Never heard of these guys before, but looking at their site, somehow I doubt it will ever see the light of day. Looks like vaporware scam at its finest. That said, I'm willing to be surprised. (Not sending them a dime though.)
For you and other reading-challenged - from the very beginning of the article:
Both models include HSDPA 3G, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR, QWERTY keyboard, 2.5â touchscreen and a microSD slot. The Pro adds WiFi, GPS and a 2.0 megapixel camera to the base model's specs.
...it no wonder MySQL sucks if he can admit on the one hand it's bugridden (not in those words, sure) and then say at the same time, it's ready for general production usage.
I think that just brings it up to the major leagues. I mean Oracle managed to ship production versions of its DB with developer's home directory hardcoded into startup script which without modifications would not allow you to start DB. How does something like THAT pass QA?
Around here we praise Linux, disagree on Apple and bash Dell. Its the way things are. Don't let facts get in the way of a good bashing...
For what its worth, the first link in story refers to the original time this happened (I assume in '05) - while the current mistake is what the story is about and is referred to as "yet another pricing mistake".
I want a bunch of disposable ones, that I can shoot ahead from my car, when approaching a hill or a curve on the road. Instead of live video, though, it would alert me of a speed-trap ahead... If they could make these to cost, say, $5 a pop, the cost of a road-trip from Boston to New York can really come down in cost...
Thats a lot of corners fom Boston to NYC - at $5 a pop that'll be pricey. I think better tool would be a GPS-RadarDetector-3G Data combo device (can use BT cell phone for data feed) that can detect radars and pass information to central db and thus to all local users.
There was some cop show recently where a swat team used a similar device, except it also had RC controlled weight inside so that they could roll it via remote. Forgot which show, but I doubt its not based on a real device.
The show was Flashpoint. Guess Canadians have better gear than US....
There was some cop show recently where a swat team used a similar device, except it also had RC controlled weight inside so that they could roll it via remote. Forgot which show, but I doubt its not based on a real device.
The GPL is pretty strict about any distribution requiring source being made available. Embedded devices are no exception.
Erm, the person who modded that as "Informative" needs some education - it is a misleading statement at best. Requirement for distributing source only applies to MODIFIED source. You are allowed to distribute unmodified code under GPL however you like:
From GPL:
4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.
You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice; keep intact all notices stating that this License and any non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code; keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.
You may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey, and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee.
I don't think the battery issue is relevant either. It does support headsets, just not *stereo* headsets. The battery sucks either way (Atleast until you jailbreak it!)
Well, I think the difference is not in standby battery use, but in active usage. Average user probably talks on the phone a lot less than they would listen to iPod. That is how I think the battery usage for A2DP will have a huge impact.
I got his point alright. Thing is that the iPhone doesn't support A2DP headsets. Even if it did, you wouldn't be able to use the iPhone *AS* a headset. You'd be able to connect headsets to it. It'd be the same with the iPod. The iPhone could support A2DP headsets easily without supporting *being* a headset. Same with the iPod.
As I understood it he is not talking about A2DP specifically, but other features of "full featured Bluetooth stack" which include being a headset to a phone - which is still pointless as I do not think Touch has BT hardware anyway.
As for why not support A2DP - I am guessing it mostly has to do with making sure the iPhone survives past noon without needing a recharge (under current limited feature stack you can almost make to 5pm!!!)
Apple has a real reason to not implement a full modern Bluetooth stack - if they do it on the iPhone it will be expected/demanded/hacked onto the ipod Touch, and people would then use an iPod Touch with a cheapo bluetooth phone rather than paying the premium for an iPhone
That's gotta be the worst excuse EVAR. You can't use a cheapo BT phone as a *headset* and use that as a replacement for an iPhone. If it was the other way around, yes.
I think you missed his point - he was saying the other way around. Get a cheap phone that supports bluetooth. Use Touch as the "headset" . Though without a microphone or bluetooth hardware in iPod Touch I am not sure how he suggests this will be done.
Now if someone builds a relatively cheap G3-to-wifi bridge - this can make things interesting.... but it has nothing to do with anything here.
You might be able to port the framework to the iPhone, but you could never release it via the App Store.
Erm, the whole point of porting it is to NOT deal with App Store. We are taking replacing the whole iPhone OS with something else (BSD based OS/X with Linux)
Getting the OS onto iPhone is easy - thats how Jail-breaking process works, the real hard part will be writing the drivers.
Can't wait though - I was very disappointed since I found out G1 does not support AT&T's G3 frequency and that I am stuck with iPhone for a while. Android on iPhone would be a decent cancellation prize - at least until better hardware that works with AT&T and runs Android comes out.....wonder if someone will port it to Treo too? There are number of linux drivers for some of those already.
Severely restricted bluetooth, poor / absent MMS capability... Both blackmarks for me.
Since the G1 has the same limitations then, you must continue to be sad.
Yeah, but you can write an MMS app for it without having to hack your phone and invalidate your warranty. In fact it is encouraged for Android as opposed to iPhone.
I still don't see why anyone would use MMS when they can email or post photos.
Erm, because most people CAN get MMS and CANNOT get email with photo attachments. Not everyone has an iPhone or G1. Before going to iPhone I used to be able to send pictures to people - can't do that with iPhone... ("Can't do that with iPhone" should be the "truth-in-advertising" campaign slogan for iPhone - it applies so well to so much)
I do find it odd the iPhone still has the same limited Bluetooth support, and that Android has matching limitations... I know it would hurt battery life but I really feel they should let the user choose here.
Now, aren't the drivers for Bluetooth open source - or can at least be replaced with open source versions? If they figured out how to put A2DP onto Treo 650 with closed source OS, no docs or support - I can't imagine someone will not be able to write a full Bluetooth stack if there is enough demand.
You mean like with any SIP provider which let you transfer your number to their services and give / sell / let you buy an ATA-box? Yeah, that makes them very special indeed...
I think you missed the point - its NOT porting your landline number and lets you use a landline phone - it works with your CELL phone handset and number!!!
What ATA box supports cell phones? I'd love to get one, cuz AT&T coverage SUCKS big time and having my own cell hotspot would be awesome!
Here is a bigger problem: "Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement... in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion."
As per article, this applies only to apps sold through their App Store. What I am curious about is - does this mean they can delete any app (regardless of how you installed it) when you use the app store or does this mean they can only delete apps you got via their app store if they discover something is wrong with it? I can kind of understand the latter with proper disclosure, but it needs to be made much clearer.
Socialised healthcare? MADNESS, and it'll never work anyways. Name at least one first world country that has public health care!
Oh, wait... All of them, sans the US.
I know I am feeding a troll, but as someone who has lived in countries with "socialized healthcare" I can say - there is a REASON I live in US now. Sounds good on paper, but in practice you get bare minimum and if you want any sort of REAL healthcare you have to pay insane money out of pocket, often under the table.
Know anyone with Medicare? Ask them how they like it and how come most doctors won't accept it.
Piratebay clearly doesn't host any copyright materials, their role is the same as google's, that of a search engine. They don't cash any checks. Aren't they all essentially volunteers?
Deliberately or not, you are misunderstanding the situation. Let me draw clearer parallels:
* PirateBay pays their ISP for bandwidth - so their ISP is indeed cashing their checks * Intercage pays their ISP for bandwidth - again "cashing their checks" as you put it.
* MAFIAA exerts financial blackmail pressure on PirateBay's ISP * Spamhaus exerts financial blackmail pressure on Intercage's ISP
So, what we are saying is that its ok for ISPs that simply carry the traffic to use their own judgment on content passing through their network and for financial gain block certain sites/protocols. That's the absolute opposite of net neutrality - no?
Pacific Internet Exchange cut off Intercage because Spamhaus listed Intercage, Pacific, and all of Pacific's legit customers if any, so none could send or receive email.
Net neutrality? Nope. Nothing to do with that. If Pacific wanted to stay in business they had to avoid being listed by SBL. Once listed they had to resolve that problem or they would have no legit customers left. So it's pure self interest on the part of Pacific. As it should be.
Intercage has apparently arranged new connectivity, that new ISP will now be listed by SBL and have to get rid of Intercage of avoid it. The circle continues. You cannot cash spammers and miscreant's checks and stay in the ISP business. Not anymore. Those days are over. Hooray for Spamhaus.
You see a difference where I see the biggest similarity in these scenarios. Both Spamhous and MAFIAA blackmail their victims into doing what they want by threat of financial impact. Comcast being sued by people that control their content is probably a much bigger financial threat than Spamhous blocking email.
Just to illustrate the point:
PirateBay has apparently arranged new connectivity, that new ISP will now be targeted by MPAA and have to get rid of PirateBay to avoid it. The circle continues. You cannot cash copyright pirate's checks and stay in the ISP business. Not anymore. Those days are over. Hooray for MPAA.
If you are not happy with just OWA (although it does refresh itself and do popup notification etc) and want something that will notify you when you get new mail, get any ActiveSync device (iPhone, iPod Touch, any Windows Mobile, some Treo's, anyone know if Android supports it?).
It will be - portable and push-synced and if you DO want to see the email in all its glory, you can always pull up OWA for that specific message.
Other than that, you may also want to run an old windows XP desktop somethere and RDP to it. Easier on resources and installation than VMs.
Slashdot Mirror
True. However, according to the full specifications, the phone does not support the frequency band used by T-Mobile USA for HSDPA.
But unlike G1, it does support AT&T G3 frequency :-D. If you are on TMobile, can't see why you would not get G1 in the first place.
-Em
Never heard of these guys before, but looking at their site, somehow I doubt it will ever see the light of day. Looks like vaporware scam at its finest. That said, I'm willing to be surprised. (Not sending them a dime though.)
-Em
For you and other reading-challenged - from the very beginning of the article:
Both models include HSDPA 3G, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR, QWERTY keyboard, 2.5â touchscreen and a microSD slot. The Pro adds WiFi, GPS and a 2.0 megapixel camera to the base model's specs.
...it no wonder MySQL sucks if he can admit on the one hand it's bugridden (not in those words, sure) and then say at the same time, it's ready for general production usage.
I think that just brings it up to the major leagues. I mean Oracle managed to ship production versions of its DB with developer's home directory hardcoded into startup script which without modifications would not allow you to start DB. How does something like THAT pass QA?
-Em
Its a Silly Slashdot Story time...
Around here we praise Linux, disagree on Apple and bash Dell. Its the way things are. Don't let facts get in the way of a good bashing...
For what its worth, the first link in story refers to the original time this happened (I assume in '05) - while the current mistake is what the story is about and is referred to as "yet another pricing mistake".
-Em
I want a bunch of disposable ones, that I can shoot ahead from my car, when approaching a hill or a curve on the road. Instead of live video, though, it would alert me of a speed-trap ahead... If they could make these to cost, say, $5 a pop, the cost of a road-trip from Boston to New York can really come down in cost...
Thats a lot of corners fom Boston to NYC - at $5 a pop that'll be pricey. I think better tool would be a GPS-RadarDetector-3G Data combo device (can use BT cell phone for data feed) that can detect radars and pass information to central db and thus to all local users.
-Em
There was some cop show recently where a swat team used a similar device, except it also had RC controlled weight inside so that they could roll it via remote. Forgot which show, but I doubt its not based on a real device.
The show was Flashpoint. Guess Canadians have better gear than US....
-Em
There was some cop show recently where a swat team used a similar device, except it also had RC controlled weight inside so that they could roll it via remote. Forgot which show, but I doubt its not based on a real device.
heh, guess I was flat out wrong... sorry
-Em
The GPL is pretty strict about any distribution requiring source being made available. Embedded devices are no exception.
Erm, the person who modded that as "Informative" needs some education - it is a misleading statement at best. Requirement for distributing source only applies to MODIFIED source. You are allowed to distribute unmodified code under GPL however you like:
From GPL:
4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.
You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice; keep intact all notices stating that this License and any non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code; keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.
You may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey, and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee.
I don't think the battery issue is relevant either. It does support headsets, just not *stereo* headsets. The battery sucks either way (Atleast until you jailbreak it!)
Well, I think the difference is not in standby battery use, but in active usage. Average user probably talks on the phone a lot less than they would listen to iPod. That is how I think the battery usage for A2DP will have a huge impact.
-Em
I got his point alright. Thing is that the iPhone doesn't support A2DP headsets. Even if it did, you wouldn't be able to use the iPhone *AS* a headset. You'd be able to connect headsets to it. It'd be the same with the iPod.
The iPhone could support A2DP headsets easily without supporting *being* a headset. Same with the iPod.
As I understood it he is not talking about A2DP specifically, but other features of "full featured Bluetooth stack" which include being a headset to a phone - which is still pointless as I do not think Touch has BT hardware anyway.
As for why not support A2DP - I am guessing it mostly has to do with making sure the iPhone survives past noon without needing a recharge (under current limited feature stack you can almost make to 5pm!!!)
-Em
...cancellation prize...
Word Nazi says you should try using words you know you know instead of ones you think you know. Your consolation prize is a reprimand from an A/C.
...or what happens when you typo on an iPhone and not pay enough attention...
my bad ;-)
-Em
Apple has a real reason to not implement a full modern Bluetooth stack - if they do it on the iPhone it will be expected/demanded/hacked onto the ipod Touch, and people would then use an iPod Touch with a cheapo bluetooth phone rather than paying the premium for an iPhone
That's gotta be the worst excuse EVAR. You can't use a cheapo BT phone as a *headset* and use that as a replacement for an iPhone. If it was the other way around, yes.
I think you missed his point - he was saying the other way around. Get a cheap phone that supports bluetooth. Use Touch as the "headset" . Though without a microphone or bluetooth hardware in iPod Touch I am not sure how he suggests this will be done.
Now if someone builds a relatively cheap G3-to-wifi bridge - this can make things interesting.... but it has nothing to do with anything here.
-Em
You might be able to port the framework to the iPhone, but you could never release it via the App Store.
Erm, the whole point of porting it is to NOT deal with App Store. We are taking replacing the whole iPhone OS with something else (BSD based OS/X with Linux)
Getting the OS onto iPhone is easy - thats how Jail-breaking process works, the real hard part will be writing the drivers.
Can't wait though - I was very disappointed since I found out G1 does not support AT&T's G3 frequency and that I am stuck with iPhone for a while. Android on iPhone would be a decent cancellation prize - at least until better hardware that works with AT&T and runs Android comes out. ....wonder if someone will port it to Treo too? There are number of linux drivers for some of those already.
-EM
Otherwise we could also have an MMS app on the iPhone...
There are MMS apps for iPhone, just not ones that run officially (i.e. you need to jailbreak the iPhone)
-Em
Arachnid??? Guessing he's on crack, or his iphone
ROTFLMAO - a joke any iPhone owner can relate to.... I bet people who never used an iPhone are wondering what thats all about...
-Em
Its clear that the extra 7gig you get isn't worth $20.
AC
Yep... 8GB SD Card - $16, open OS, removable memory and battery - priceless.....
Severely restricted bluetooth, poor / absent MMS capability... Both blackmarks for me.
Since the G1 has the same limitations then, you must continue to be sad.
Yeah, but you can write an MMS app for it without having to hack your phone and invalidate your warranty. In fact it is encouraged for Android as opposed to iPhone.
I still don't see why anyone would use MMS when they can email or post photos.
Erm, because most people CAN get MMS and CANNOT get email with photo attachments. Not everyone has an iPhone or G1. Before going to iPhone I used to be able to send pictures to people - can't do that with iPhone... ("Can't do that with iPhone" should be the "truth-in-advertising" campaign slogan for iPhone - it applies so well to so much)
I do find it odd the iPhone still has the same limited Bluetooth support, and that Android has matching limitations... I know it would hurt battery life but I really feel they should let the user choose here.
Now, aren't the drivers for Bluetooth open source - or can at least be replaced with open source versions? If they figured out how to put A2DP onto Treo 650 with closed source OS, no docs or support - I can't imagine someone will not be able to write a full Bluetooth stack if there is enough demand.
-Em
You mean like with any SIP provider which let you transfer your number to their services and give / sell / let you buy an ATA-box? Yeah, that makes them very special indeed ...
I think you missed the point - its NOT porting your landline number and lets you use a landline phone - it works with your CELL phone handset and number!!!
What ATA box supports cell phones? I'd love to get one, cuz AT&T coverage SUCKS big time and having my own cell hotspot would be awesome!
-Em
Here is a bigger problem: ... in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion."
"Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement
As per article, this applies only to apps sold through their App Store. What I am curious about is - does this mean they can delete any app (regardless of how you installed it) when you use the app store or does this mean they can only delete apps you got via their app store if they discover something is wrong with it? I can kind of understand the latter with proper disclosure, but it needs to be made much clearer.
-Em
Socialised healthcare? MADNESS, and it'll never work anyways. Name at least one first world country that has public health care!
Oh, wait... All of them, sans the US.
I know I am feeding a troll, but as someone who has lived in countries with "socialized healthcare" I can say - there is a REASON I live in US now. Sounds good on paper, but in practice you get bare minimum and if you want any sort of REAL healthcare you have to pay insane money out of pocket, often under the table.
Know anyone with Medicare? Ask them how they like it and how come most doctors won't accept it.
Piratebay clearly doesn't host any copyright materials, their role is the same as google's, that of a search engine. They don't cash any checks. Aren't they all essentially volunteers?
Deliberately or not, you are misunderstanding the situation. Let me draw clearer parallels:
* PirateBay pays their ISP for bandwidth - so their ISP is indeed cashing their checks
* Intercage pays their ISP for bandwidth - again "cashing their checks" as you put it.
* MAFIAA exerts financial blackmail pressure on PirateBay's ISP
* Spamhaus exerts financial blackmail pressure on Intercage's ISP
* PirateBay's ISP drops them. How dare they!!!
* Intercage's ISP drops them. Hooray ?!?!?!
So, what we are saying is that its ok for ISPs that simply carry the traffic to use their own judgment on content passing through their network and for financial gain block certain sites/protocols. That's the absolute opposite of net neutrality - no?
-Em
It's not that at all.
Pacific Internet Exchange cut off Intercage because Spamhaus listed Intercage, Pacific, and all of Pacific's legit customers if any, so none could send or receive email.
Net neutrality? Nope. Nothing to do with that. If Pacific wanted to stay in business they had to avoid being listed by SBL. Once listed they had to resolve that problem or they would have no legit customers left. So it's pure self interest on the part of Pacific. As it should be.
Intercage has apparently arranged new connectivity, that new ISP will now be listed by SBL and have to get rid of Intercage of avoid it. The circle continues. You cannot cash spammers and miscreant's checks and stay in the ISP business. Not anymore. Those days are over. Hooray for Spamhaus.
You see a difference where I see the biggest similarity in these scenarios. Both Spamhous and MAFIAA blackmail their victims into doing what they want by threat of financial impact. Comcast being sued by people that control their content is probably a much bigger financial threat than Spamhous blocking email.
Just to illustrate the point:
PirateBay has apparently arranged new connectivity, that new ISP will now be targeted by MPAA and have to get rid of PirateBay to avoid it. The circle continues. You cannot cash copyright pirate's checks and stay in the ISP business. Not anymore. Those days are over. Hooray for MPAA.
-Em
If you are not happy with just OWA (although it does refresh itself and do popup notification etc) and want something that will notify you when you get new mail, get any ActiveSync device (iPhone, iPod Touch, any Windows Mobile, some Treo's, anyone know if Android supports it?).
It will be - portable and push-synced and if you DO want to see the email in all its glory, you can always pull up OWA for that specific message.
Other than that, you may also want to run an old windows XP desktop somethere and RDP to it. Easier on resources and installation than VMs.
-Em