Someone has to do it. I mainly do it because it then looks much funnier when claims are made of just how unbiased slashdot supposedly is when pro-Apple or anti-Google/Android articles are posted.
Comment: "This connector won't work with current headphones! Apple wants me to buy a $20 adapter!" (+5 insightful)
Article: "The connector port will very specifically be compatible with old 3.5mm jacks...."
The article addresses that - it is going to be a surface mount connector, that holds the plug magnetically sort of like the current magsafe design.
The thin plug is presumably so that the overall look when it is connected will be flush, but the port will also take a standard 3.5mm plug too - it'll just stand proud of the surface, or (as also explained in the article, with a diagram no less) a 'cosmetic cap' would be fitted that covers the port. I assume that this will be part of the phone itself and work like the docking station adapters that go with the universal dock to make it compatible with the varying designs of iPod/iPhone over the years.
The primary suggestion seems to be magnets on a surface mount though.
You need practice in reading comprehension I feel, like every second post on this whole story. If proof were needed that almost no one at slashdot reads the articles, this story is it, with 30 people immediately posting factually incorrect information that is addressed in plain english in the article itself.
Current jacks will fit the new port design, but since the port is cut in half and exposed to one side of the device shell, a traditional connector would simply drop out: Apple proposes a magnetic interface that would keep a thin audio connector in place.
Those pieces (as described in the article) are part of the port - you don't need to add anything new or buy any "adapter". Let me put it this way: you can connect a 3.5mm jack without making any changes to the port.
The port is backwards compatible with existing 3.5mm plugs, so if it remains "licensed" (and there is no indication that it will be - compare to mini-displayport), then it will simply remain on Apple devices only.
Did you read the article? No? Didn't think so. The design features a method to make the port compatible with current 3.5mm plugs - either by magnetic connection, or via a "cosmetic cap" to hold the plug in place. I assume one that stretches to accommodate the full size 3.5mm plug.
You'll note that the patent (you did RTFA right? No, silly me, of course you didn't!) specifies that current connectors would be compatible with the port, but that either it would require a magnetic system to hold the connector onto the port, or a cover would have to be installed to hold the connector on, thus eliminating the need for an adapter since current 3.5mm jacks would work with it.
Yes, pretty much - they are concerned that DVRs are already "cutting into" DVD sales - they absolutely do not want you to be able to save your recorded shows on external media, or somehow extend the storage of the box (even if you can't take the content to another device due to encrypted streams etc) because the realise people will record a whole series and keep it, and thus have no need to buy the DVD box set for christmas.
They don't car that the limitations they impose on box-makers make it hard on home camcorder users - they are all about "protecting" their content [read: profits on DVD sales].
Now, the Virgin box (and I believe the Sky HD one too) has a feature that allows you to "save" your recorded shows... by playing them out to a VCR. It seriously has a special option to do that (which is functionally no different to simply playing the show normally), but saving the show onto an external drive? No chance.
Like I say, the box I have downstairs has an ethernet, a USB and an eSATA port on it, and they must have been put there for some planned purpose - the box itself is a custom DVR for Virgin - but they are simply disabled.
The iPad is often chided for its "lack of being able to do anything you want" and as it happens, it already does most of what people want and you just have edge cases that only apply to less than 5% of the potential user base (which suggests that it's not the device itself at fault, you're just picking the wrong tool for the job when there are other ones out there that *will* fit the bill).
The key ones I have heard are:
* lack of expandable storage (a problem, yes) * lack of physical keyboard (you can add one, via bluetooth or via usb * lack of USB (it supports USB use fine with the adapter) * lack of HDMI (supports it just fine, again with adapter) * lack of 'homebrew' and limitation of the App Store as sole gateway to apps (an issue for the single user, but not for a corporate setting since a company can roll their own App Store and deploy in-house apps) * lack of replaceable battery (compromise to suit the bulk of users - making it non-removable increased capacity considerably, but does require an external power source [they do make them] if you are going to be away from a power source for more than 6 to 8 hours). * lack of a filesystem and related sync issues (requirement to move files on and off by USB syncing with iTunes - this is changing in iOS5 for the better, finally) * lack of bluetooth file transfer (no reason this shouldn't be included, on the iPhone too - it has the capability its just disabled) * security updates dependent on Apple
Look, I get that it's not the ideal slashdot nerd's device, and that it hasn't been expressly designed for business (although it has some business features like the in-house app store, exchange support etc), but for the things it was designed to do it does remarkably well for more than 95% of the user base.
It just gets old when you see a story like "NFL coaches considering iPad for playbook to save on paper printouts" and a vast number of the "informative" slashdot responses are about how coaches are not going to want to put their sensitive play information in the App Store, showing their ignorance of iOS's features.
The point is, the port is completely disabled, so if you enable USB Mass Storage then sure you can connect your camcorder, but you can *also* connect a hard drive or USB stick and save/view recordings you have made on the box itself. There's a reason that the storage on the DVR itself is limited when it would be trivial to enable the box to save out to an external disk or array, networked or otherwise. They don't want you recording and keeping shows - they want you to buy the DVDs.
I'm pretty sure the ethernet port on my cable box was from the days when the box acted as a cable modem as well as a TV cable box, but Virgin just split the coax at the entry point to the house now and put a separate cable modem/wireless AP wherever you want it, so the port is redundant and disabled.
* a computer doesn't call you a "noob fag" over XBL if you're better than them. * you can play at your own pace without having to hang around waiting for other people * the story can be the driving force and you can concentrate on it, instead of trying to read quest or backstory while your 12 yo "co op partner" is tea bagging the quest giver's dog * no griefing
A good bit of multiplayer can be great - LAN play on Quake 3 Arena was a blast, as is hosting a direct-IP Civ4 game for your buddies. You'll note that neither of these things involves an online multiplayer hub owned by the game company designed to get you to play with strangers.
Who said anything about that? They are competing just fine, but they feel that Samsung has infringed on their design, and they have the right to be able to sue over that perceived infringement (whether they are technically correct or not, it is in their own power to bring the suit).
This is no different to a content producer coming out with a cartoon mouse called "Ricky" and giving him hemispherical black ears and a pet dog called "Gluto". If Disney sues you over this, does that suddenly mean "they can't compete in a fair marketplace"?
I'm not certain the lawsuit holds much water (The Tab doesn't really look all that iPad like, unlike the Galaxy S which *does* look a lot like an iPhone), but Apple's right (or anyone's right) to sue for infringement has no relevance to their ability to compete in the market. They actually make and sell a product, unlike a pure "IP company" looking to make cash from other manufacturers.
I will also point out that even if you hate everything Apple with an irrational hatred of a thousand burning suns, an aTV makes a sweet XBMC box, then you really can be in ultimate control of the software on the box.
That must be in the US. Here in the UK I am very happy with my Virgin cable box.
The only potential changes I would like would be for them to enable the usb/sata/ethernet ports on the back of the thing so I could add external storage or for viewing content not from the box itself. The ports are there, but the software isn't yet - presumably due to licensing issues with the content providers (I mean, why ship them on production boxes with custom circuit boards if you didn;t have plans for them?).
As has been shown repeatedly, you *might* be able to get some idea of the rough area of the country you were in, but someone trying to actively pin down their location over time using this data had a serious problem doing so - it's very erratic and not at all like the "flashing dot on map with traced line" that people are expecting as often seen on CSI.
Also, people cannot access this data if all they have is your phone *unless* you don;t have it pin-locked. You need to access the file after it has been copied over to the computer the phone syncs with, *not* from the phone itself.
Now, if you have the phone and it's not locked you can simply back it up to a machine with iTunes and get the file, but if you don't know the passcode then your only option is to boot it in recovery mode, which will allow you to set it up on the machine but only by wiping all the data and factory restoring to defaults.
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Most of them are steel, with either a gold coating or uncoated. It should be sufficient to hold it to the port.
Someone has to do it. I mainly do it because it then looks much funnier when claims are made of just how unbiased slashdot supposedly is when pro-Apple or anti-Google/Android articles are posted.
Comment: "This connector won't work with current headphones! Apple wants me to buy a $20 adapter!" (+5 insightful)
Article: "The connector port will very specifically be compatible with old 3.5mm jacks...."
The article addresses that - it is going to be a surface mount connector, that holds the plug magnetically sort of like the current magsafe design.
The thin plug is presumably so that the overall look when it is connected will be flush, but the port will also take a standard 3.5mm plug too - it'll just stand proud of the surface, or (as also explained in the article, with a diagram no less) a 'cosmetic cap' would be fitted that covers the port. I assume that this will be part of the phone itself and work like the docking station adapters that go with the universal dock to make it compatible with the varying designs of iPod/iPhone over the years.
The primary suggestion seems to be magnets on a surface mount though.
You need practice in reading comprehension I feel, like every second post on this whole story. If proof were needed that almost no one at slashdot reads the articles, this story is it, with 30 people immediately posting factually incorrect information that is addressed in plain english in the article itself.
It seems YOU didn;t read the article. Quoted:
Current jacks will fit the new port design, but since the port is cut in half and exposed to one side of the device shell, a traditional connector would simply drop out: Apple proposes a magnetic interface that would keep a thin audio connector in place.
(emphasis mine)
Those pieces (as described in the article) are part of the port - you don't need to add anything new or buy any "adapter". Let me put it this way: you can connect a 3.5mm jack without making any changes to the port.
So an iPhone then. They do sell unlocked ones. Not in China though at the moment, clearly.
Buy a UK one, that is already unlocked. It will work on any GSM network in the world.
The port is backwards compatible with existing 3.5mm plugs, so if it remains "licensed" (and there is no indication that it will be - compare to mini-displayport), then it will simply remain on Apple devices only.
No, the port works with existing 3.5mm headphones - you didn't read the article very well, did you?
Because then the port would not be backwards compatible with 3.5mm plugs, which this one is.
Yes you will. RTFA.
Did you read the article? No? Didn't think so. The design features a method to make the port compatible with current 3.5mm plugs - either by magnetic connection, or via a "cosmetic cap" to hold the plug in place. I assume one that stretches to accommodate the full size 3.5mm plug.
You'll note that the patent (you did RTFA right? No, silly me, of course you didn't!) specifies that current connectors would be compatible with the port, but that either it would require a magnetic system to hold the connector onto the port, or a cover would have to be installed to hold the connector on, thus eliminating the need for an adapter since current 3.5mm jacks would work with it.
The iPhone 4 is already sold in China. This is just a deal to offer it on another carrier, China Mobile.
Yes, pretty much - they are concerned that DVRs are already "cutting into" DVD sales - they absolutely do not want you to be able to save your recorded shows on external media, or somehow extend the storage of the box (even if you can't take the content to another device due to encrypted streams etc) because the realise people will record a whole series and keep it, and thus have no need to buy the DVD box set for christmas.
They don't car that the limitations they impose on box-makers make it hard on home camcorder users - they are all about "protecting" their content [read: profits on DVD sales].
Now, the Virgin box (and I believe the Sky HD one too) has a feature that allows you to "save" your recorded shows... by playing them out to a VCR. It seriously has a special option to do that (which is functionally no different to simply playing the show normally), but saving the show onto an external drive? No chance.
Like I say, the box I have downstairs has an ethernet, a USB and an eSATA port on it, and they must have been put there for some planned purpose - the box itself is a custom DVR for Virgin - but they are simply disabled.
Like what?
The iPad is often chided for its "lack of being able to do anything you want" and as it happens, it already does most of what people want and you just have edge cases that only apply to less than 5% of the potential user base (which suggests that it's not the device itself at fault, you're just picking the wrong tool for the job when there are other ones out there that *will* fit the bill).
The key ones I have heard are:
* lack of expandable storage (a problem, yes)
* lack of physical keyboard (you can add one, via bluetooth or via usb
* lack of USB (it supports USB use fine with the adapter)
* lack of HDMI (supports it just fine, again with adapter)
* lack of 'homebrew' and limitation of the App Store as sole gateway to apps (an issue for the single user, but not for a corporate setting since a company can roll their own App Store and deploy in-house apps)
* lack of replaceable battery (compromise to suit the bulk of users - making it non-removable increased capacity considerably, but does require an external power source [they do make them] if you are going to be away from a power source for more than 6 to 8 hours).
* lack of a filesystem and related sync issues (requirement to move files on and off by USB syncing with iTunes - this is changing in iOS5 for the better, finally)
* lack of bluetooth file transfer (no reason this shouldn't be included, on the iPhone too - it has the capability its just disabled)
* security updates dependent on Apple
Look, I get that it's not the ideal slashdot nerd's device, and that it hasn't been expressly designed for business (although it has some business features like the in-house app store, exchange support etc), but for the things it was designed to do it does remarkably well for more than 95% of the user base.
It just gets old when you see a story like "NFL coaches considering iPad for playbook to save on paper printouts" and a vast number of the "informative" slashdot responses are about how coaches are not going to want to put their sensitive play information in the App Store, showing their ignorance of iOS's features.
The point is, the port is completely disabled, so if you enable USB Mass Storage then sure you can connect your camcorder, but you can *also* connect a hard drive or USB stick and save/view recordings you have made on the box itself. There's a reason that the storage on the DVR itself is limited when it would be trivial to enable the box to save out to an external disk or array, networked or otherwise. They don't want you recording and keeping shows - they want you to buy the DVDs.
I'm pretty sure the ethernet port on my cable box was from the days when the box acted as a cable modem as well as a TV cable box, but Virgin just split the coax at the entry point to the house now and put a separate cable modem/wireless AP wherever you want it, so the port is redundant and disabled.
The ports are simply labelled as you'd expect them: eSATA, USB, Ethernet, but it is conceivable they are for service purposes - this is not my model of V+ box, but it's similar: http://images.knowhow.com/TV%20Home%20Entertainment/TV-connect-V-HD-box.png
Because:
* a computer doesn't call you a "noob fag" over XBL if you're better than them.
* you can play at your own pace without having to hang around waiting for other people
* the story can be the driving force and you can concentrate on it, instead of trying to read quest or backstory while your 12 yo "co op partner" is tea bagging the quest giver's dog
* no griefing
A good bit of multiplayer can be great - LAN play on Quake 3 Arena was a blast, as is hosting a direct-IP Civ4 game for your buddies. You'll note that neither of these things involves an online multiplayer hub owned by the game company designed to get you to play with strangers.
Who said anything about that? They are competing just fine, but they feel that Samsung has infringed on their design, and they have the right to be able to sue over that perceived infringement (whether they are technically correct or not, it is in their own power to bring the suit).
This is no different to a content producer coming out with a cartoon mouse called "Ricky" and giving him hemispherical black ears and a pet dog called "Gluto". If Disney sues you over this, does that suddenly mean "they can't compete in a fair marketplace"?
I'm not certain the lawsuit holds much water (The Tab doesn't really look all that iPad like, unlike the Galaxy S which *does* look a lot like an iPhone), but Apple's right (or anyone's right) to sue for infringement has no relevance to their ability to compete in the market. They actually make and sell a product, unlike a pure "IP company" looking to make cash from other manufacturers.
I will also point out that even if you hate everything Apple with an irrational hatred of a thousand burning suns, an aTV makes a sweet XBMC box, then you really can be in ultimate control of the software on the box.
That must be in the US. Here in the UK I am very happy with my Virgin cable box.
The only potential changes I would like would be for them to enable the usb/sata/ethernet ports on the back of the thing so I could add external storage or for viewing content not from the box itself. The ports are there, but the software isn't yet - presumably due to licensing issues with the content providers (I mean, why ship them on production boxes with custom circuit boards if you didn;t have plans for them?).
The beauty of open source though is that you can have many contributors of the source, you are never quite sure who it ultimately belongs to...
No, it really doesn't.
As has been shown repeatedly, you *might* be able to get some idea of the rough area of the country you were in, but someone trying to actively pin down their location over time using this data had a serious problem doing so - it's very erratic and not at all like the "flashing dot on map with traced line" that people are expecting as often seen on CSI.
Also, people cannot access this data if all they have is your phone *unless* you don;t have it pin-locked. You need to access the file after it has been copied over to the computer the phone syncs with, *not* from the phone itself.
Now, if you have the phone and it's not locked you can simply back it up to a machine with iTunes and get the file, but if you don't know the passcode then your only option is to boot it in recovery mode, which will allow you to set it up on the machine but only by wiping all the data and factory restoring to defaults.
The US spends more on air conditioning Afghanistan per year than NASA's entire budget.
If you want to reduce the deficit, maybe hand out some paper fans to the troops, or perhaps pull them out of the desert.