It's a shame that development on both phones is locked down to the extent that it is, but hopefully competition between the two will slowly chip away at this.
Care to explain to folks, how Android is "locked down"???? they have even released the os under open source, and are already accepting patches.
But the android does not NEED jailbreaking. Maybe the need to jailbreak was the marketing angle, who knows, but does not say much about the honesty of some of the marketing.
Maybe you MAY be true in the federal state that USA is "closer" to the EU, but not quite. We still have differing taxes, intrest rates, currencies, passport controls...
and the most important, you would not see many EU nationals "patriotic" about the EU:) quite the opposite sometimes!
The callers still got through because they knew she'd answer if they kept calling because callerID doesn't show up on the first ring
Here in the UK, the CLID comes through BEFORE the first ring, which opens up some unique possibilities. (its what is used to also handle SMS over Landlines)
the 7/7 terrorism killed a lot of people. However, it still doesn't compare to the amount killed on the trains by Railtrack/British Rail/ et all due to incompetence, and poor maintenance.
And both those two figures don't compare to the number of people killed due to drink driving by idiots who think they can still drive after a few pints, or other forms of negligent driving.
Yet i dont see as much of a crackdown on these idiots...
Why, because when a terrorist does something, even once in a blue moon, it makes big news.
When a small child is killed by a drink driving "terror", it rarely makes a blip.
ITs the same with your this topic. When you computer breaks down, it does so pretty often, yet hardly makes news. When an office server goes down (less frequent) the effect, and inferences are higher. when gmail goes down (much less rarely, considering) it makes big news.
i am not sure, Google was founded by two very smart founders, who hired the right CEO for the job (Eric Schmitt, a good techie, who also grokked business).
Google didnt cast smoke and mirrors (cuil bring an example) which fell over.
I switched to google from altavista all those years ago, because it was fast, clean, and WORKED.
today, tis still the same story, its fast, clean and works.
but then along came the spanmmers, who took advantages of the open relays, and requiring the need for more hoops than you can shake at. Now email is point to point
you send to your SMTP server on your ISP/work, and that gets delivered direct to the SMTP server at the destination. in LARGE companies it may go through 2 or 3 SMTP servers within the same company, but in general point to point these days.
still the protocol does allow some failover, so you are still right in essence
actually the android system can be cut down for smaller phones too. Its not that hard to believe, remember a lot of Moto phones now run on linux, and these are normal feature phones, not smart ones.
Just ship a version of android, without touchscreen/android market/downloads, and a smaller wap broswer, and u shoudl be able to scale down.
ok, lets get this clear on the bluetooth side. There is a full bluetooth stack on the phones. Its none other than Bluez used my most linux distros. It does work , and thats why headset/handsfree works.
What is not included is the full API for bluetooth, and that was because they simply ran out of time. Its nearly there, but Google did not want to risk putting a nearly there API, and then be stuck with it in the future. They wanted to get it right.
this was all mentioned in the release notes.
So, wait for the firmware update, and BTW, this phone updates nicely over the air!
I agree with u on the MMS side. in fact the androids way of handling MMS is classy!
Ah yes, the good old BS1363 plug! A remarkably engineered product, where the engineering committee thought of literally EVERYTHING, including blinds slipping on the pins while plugged in.
Except for one MAJOR flaw..... when corded up.. they tend to fall on the floor, pins facing up.... and anyone who has experienced it, will tell you..... stepping on one by accident, redefines the meaning of pain!
Thankfully, some manufacturers have cottoned on have had created a pyramidal back, which helps.
For the Americans who don't know what the BS1363 is, it's the Electrical Plug used in the UK:)
Although the parent is somewhat trollish, he is nevertheless right.
In USA, the main "experience" of smart phones prior to the iPhone are the Blackberries, which admittedly did a single job, and did it WELL.
Here in Europe, we have had smart phones for a significantly longer time. Starting with the Nokia Communicator Series, and the Ericsson PXXX series, and people buying smartphones as a "cheaper replacement" to PDAs (mobile phoen subsidies made these devices cheaper than PDAs, hence the PDA market tanking here).
The fact is, even before the iPhone was released, you already see "normal" people carryign smart phones. In fact the Nokia N95 is still a highly popular phone over here in the UK, released before the iPhone, it simply won a lot of sales, thanks to its built in GPS, Radio, decent call qaulity, 5mp camera and VGA 30fps recording. Specs that sold the device, and is still selling the device.
Many have bought the iPhone as a new device, and it has found some users for its innovations. But it is not as popular in this country, because as a smart phone, users DO find it inferior. Secondly, its call quality is NOT as good as the Nokia's and Sony Ericssons around.
It also fails in the ring tones, and MMS stuff, which ARE used a lot here. (sending email is NOT popular for impulse messages, SMS still rules, and MMS is still popular).
Ok, I have mixed feelings of the merits of the iPod. As a caveat, I have to mention I do own an iPod touch 16GB. I also own a Nokia n95, a SonyEricsson k800i, an iPaq, and Motorola bluetooth headphones. I have also used an iPod Shuffle, an iPod Nano, and a creative Labs Muvo.
I would be first to admit, the ipods are not all that hot in terms of features and sound quality. I have read a review earlier this year, where various music players (including phones) were tested for pure sound quality including dynamic range, etc (testing the analogue side of the hardware too). The Ipods generally came on the middle to the bottom of the range, witht he iPhone and iPod touch coming at the bottom of the ipods, and the ipod Shuffle performing best, and above average compared to other devices from other manufacturers.
The best Player Only devices were from Sony, followed very closely by Samsung and Creative. Even the Phones came very highly rated, with the SonyEriccson K800i coming on top, and only "beaten" by some really good player only devices by Sony. My Nokia N95 is also "better" than the iPods. Add to the fact that many other devices also have FM radio.
The N95 allows direct download of podcasts (something the iPhone does not allow, AND apple have banned an app that tried to allow that).
Even the so called "simplicity" of iTunes has been called to task. I now know of many other music managers that do a pretty good job of managing sound libraries. In fact, many (including Windows Media Player) can even sync with ANY standard USB Mass Storage Device. Considering that itunes cannot "monitor" a set of folders to see changes, and update a library on its own (you need to download ITLu to do that), it is poorer in many aspects.
The iPod touch does not support the Bluetooth headphones I have. The iPaq, the K800, and the N95 did. in fact, before I got the ipod touch, I used to connect my Ipaq and my k800 to the headphones simultaneously. the iPaq would feed music wirelessly, and when a phone call came through, the headset would automatically switch to the phone, and send a pause command to the iPaq, resuming automatically when the call was ended. All this happened seamlessly, and wirelessly, despite being made by different manufacturers... it "just worked".
But..... despite all this, I still use the iPod Touch.. why?
a) the iPod's screen is VERY nice, yet portable. I watch a lot of podcasts, and sometimes movies on the train to work. the N95 is not as good as the iPod.
b) ability to sync "Played" statuses between iPods and iTunes, which allows me to manage the podcasts effectively (deleting played ones in itunes). I understand this is not a very strong reason, because if I used the N95, to download (via wireless/3g) I dont even need to involve a computer in the first place.
c) On a day to day basis, I don't like my phone running out of battery. the N95 does not charge from USB, and Although it may be a better music player, I would rather have the battery for other reasons, such as making calls.
d) Maybe because I paid so much for a iPod Touch, I feel more compelled to use it. (maybe despite my better judgment, I am subconsciously attracted to "pretty things", as well as the Jobs Reality Distortion field.)
e) I am just a lazy procrastinator.
But as You can see, a lot of these reasons are flimsy at best, and I will be doing a test where I will replace my ipod with my n95 for one day, and see how that goes on the morning commute.
I use the operating system that is RIGHT FOR THE JOB.
At home, on my dual core Athlon 64x2, I run Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and its my gaming rig, as well as a mutimedia rig. this is my FUN computer, which I use for serious fun. My parents use it too, and its fine, I have locked theior accounts as limited users, they are happy, it performs well, and I am Happy. It performs well enough, as is not the resourse hog people make out to be. I do have a Linux Ubuntu partition on it, which I occassianally use, for some purpose or another.
On my HOME laptop, I use XP Media center Edition, and it performs its job well. I also have a Ubuntu parition too, who I use often, but not as much as Windows.
At work, however, where I am a Software Engineer, I have chosen a custom Ubuntu Linux 64/32bit hybrid system, to manage my Quad core 4MB ram behemoth. I prefer Linux for my work PC, for what I am using it for. I do have Windows XP in a Vitual Machine, which I occasionally run for testing, which I use for testing.
You hit the nail on the head. You have signed up to a 2 year compulsory contract, yet you have (at least) a 5 year hidden contract, as you will NOT be able to use the phone on any other network, shoudl you wish to move. (this is on the assumption that after their exclusive deal is up, they will actually allow firmware updates to unlock the simlock, which I seriosuly doubt).
So yes, it stiffles competition, as people are likely to remain on AT&T just to use their iPhone, even after the 2 years is up.
Because it breaks the idea of subsidies.I am not sure how these things are like in the USA, but here in the UK, when you buy a phone it is likely to be SIM Locked to the network as the cost of the phone is subsidised to the monthly contract.
I am on T-Mobile (UK) myself.
T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and 3, typically do that. They also typically customise the phone in such a way, to usually make it easier to use on their network. The customisations can be subtle in the case of T-Mobile (excluding the N95/VOIP fiasco), where the phone is not vastly modified, to outright butchery in Vodaphone/Orange, and 3.
Nevertheless, once a phone is out of the subsidy period, it is YOUR phone, and legally you should be able to unlock it to all networks. In the case of T-Mobile (and I suspect the others) they will on request (and possibly for a small admin fee) provide you with the sim unlock code, to unlock the phone. I have heard that in many cases, they even gave the code, even before the subsidy term was over.
T-Mobile promised the same deal for the upcoming G1 Android phone, in that it CAN be unlocked once the sub period is over.
I personally buy my upgrades via Carphone Warehouse, as they source it idependantly, so phones are unlocked, and unbranded to T-Mobile, so I get the best of both worlds, a subsidised UNLOCKED phone.
O2, intrestingly do NOT usually simlock their phones, unless its a specific O2 made phone. O2 is the UK's Exclusive network for the iPhone, and the iPhone is the first GENERAL phone O2 provides which IS simlocked.
The point being is that, after the 2 year contract period with AT&T (or O2 in the UK) you STILL will not be able to unlock the iPhone, and use it with other networks, so in effect you still ARE locked into AT&T/O2. It is YOUR GSM phone, that has no TECHINCAL reason why it should not work on any other network, other than plain nastyness by Apple/AT&T/O2.
This may not be totally legal in the UK (and same in the USA), especially as it is sold as a GSM phone. If Apple/O2/AT&T allows to unlock after 2 years, then they are ok, but something tells me that will not be the case.
Note: this may be also why the Pay As You Go version was pulled from O2, as technically you own the phone straight away.
I cannot understand the reason why the parent is a troll. The "application" in this case is a web application, not a native installed application.
The post, states clearly:
"Apple is allowing IBM's Lotus to be installed on iPhones. Recently it killed a developer submitted program that was deemed competitive with Apple's product."
Which is wrong. I cannot see that the parent is a "troll". IT could even be argued the actual Slashdot post is a troll (patent lie, followed by a heated "angle" to start a flamewar)
I have written a post to this, where I have actually had to test various phones with 1D and 2D barcodes. You right about 1D barcodes, but you missed a third factor, Focus, or more specifically Macro.
- Good Optics ensure the accuracy of the image, reducing barrel, and avoiding distortion (which will kill 1D accuracy more than 2D)
- Focusing, and Macro to get as close to the bar code as possible, to "fill" the image as much as possible.
- Megapixel count, to get as much detail of the line widths to accurately retrieve the info.
The G1 will be reasonable with 1D barcodes (we have tested with a 3.2 MP HTC TyTnII which has either similar or poorer optics to the HTC made G1). IT works better with flat "Standard" barcodes (the ones which are about 1 - 1.5 inch wide). it is not good enough for really wide 1D barcodes.
It is arguable whether the grandparent is an "anti apple" troll, however he is right to say
The iPhone does not have Autofocus or rather, more specifically a "Macro" mode. This makes it MUCH harder to accurately focus in on and scan a 2D barcode, let alone a 1D one.
And I am not talking out of my behind either, as I am a developer who 6 months ago was working on a project for marketing company where we were using 2D barcodes with embedded URLs as part of a promotion.
We tested the system on many phones, including: - HTC Tytn II (T-Mobile Vario III). The G1 android based phone will have an equal or slightly better camera. (3MP camera with autofocus, no LED, or flash)
- Nokia N95 (5Mp Camera with autofocus + LED light)
- SonyEricsson K800 (3.2Megapixel with Xenon Flash)+ K750 (2.0Megapixel with LED light)
-Apple iPhone (2 megapixel, no autofocus, no LED light)
-Moto Razr V3i (1.2 Megapixel, No AutoFocus, no LED light)
-plus a few others.
Using the same algorithm, (java for the normal phones, Symbian for the N95, MacOS for the iPhone, and Windows CE for the TyTn)
The iphone, n95, and the Tytn (as well as other smartphoens running native code) did a "live"scan, as they scanned on the fly. The Java based phones had to take the picture first, before scanning.
All the cameras without autofocus performed poorly. The v3i with its non live scanning required many attempts at taking the photo before it could recognise the barcode. The iPhone had to be held at the "right distance" (a little further away than comfortable) to have enough focus to resolve the 2D code, and was simply too far away to scan the 1D code in any reasonable resolution to resolve.
The k750, despite being only 2MP did very well on the 2D codes, thanks to the AutoFocus and macro capabilities,Its 1D performance was not so good, despite getting the best possible image, it was often unable to resolve the exact sizes of the bars, to be accurate.
the K800, and the TyTn were much better at both 2D and 1D, and the Tytn had the advantage of live scanning, which allowed quicker resolution, as u just adjust your hand until the phone picked up the code. (The G1 android will be similar to the TyTn in camera performance)
The Nokia N95 was the best at both 2D and 1D, and indeed comes with a barcode scanner as a built in app, which was even better than our app, as it used the accelerometer to judge the camera shake.
So although the iphone is "useable" with 2D barcodes, it was (apart from the V3) the poorest of therest, as it required a steady hand, a specific camera to subject distance. IT was pretty much unusable on 1D, as we were unable to get it close enough to use up as much of the sensor (and therefore the 2MP resolution) without loosing focus. and in general, would be a frustration to use in the supermarket (even with 2D) or on the train for example.
Dotn get me wrong, I am NOT anti Apple, and we WANTED to have a version fo the software on the iPhone, but frankly it just was not usable enough for the average person with very little patience. And its 1D performance was simply not up to it.
So yes, as the experiment with the K750 (And anotehr dedicated 2MP Nikon) has shown it is POSSIBLE to scan 1D on a 2MP, its resolution is, even with great optics, and macro still very difficult. Taken away the macro, and its impossible.
Slashdot Mirror
It's a shame that development on both phones is locked down to the extent that it is, but hopefully competition between the two will slowly chip away at this.
Care to explain to folks, how Android is "locked down"???? they have even released the os under open source, and are already accepting patches.
The phone has a option on the "Applications Settings" called unknown sources (this is the idiot proof switch to scare Joe sixpack)
Click the checkbox, and you can install anything.
Upload via USB, email, or web.
But the android does not NEED jailbreaking. Maybe the need to jailbreak was the marketing angle, who knows, but does not say much about the honesty of some of the marketing.
Maybe you MAY be true in the federal state that USA is "closer" to the EU, but not quite. We still have differing taxes, intrest rates, currencies, passport controls...
and the most important, you would not see many EU nationals "patriotic" about the EU :) quite the opposite sometimes!
The callers still got through because they knew she'd answer if they kept calling because callerID doesn't show up on the first ring
Here in the UK, the CLID comes through BEFORE the first ring, which opens up some unique possibilities. (its what is used to also handle SMS over Landlines)
Since getting government in front of a Jury box is not going to happen............ I would say 3 boxes too.
the 7/7 terrorism killed a lot of people. However, it still doesn't compare to the amount killed on the trains by Railtrack/British Rail/ et all due to incompetence, and poor maintenance.
And both those two figures don't compare to the number of people killed due to drink driving by idiots who think they can still drive after a few pints, or other forms of negligent driving.
Yet i dont see as much of a crackdown on these idiots...
Why, because when a terrorist does something, even once in a blue moon, it makes big news.
When a small child is killed by a drink driving "terror", it rarely makes a blip.
ITs the same with your this topic. When you computer breaks down, it does so pretty often, yet hardly makes news. When an office server goes down (less frequent) the effect, and inferences are higher. when gmail goes down (much less rarely, considering) it makes big news.
All we need is perspective.
i am not sure, Google was founded by two very smart founders, who hired the right CEO for the job (Eric Schmitt, a good techie, who also grokked business).
Google didnt cast smoke and mirrors (cuil bring an example) which fell over.
I switched to google from altavista all those years ago, because it was fast, clean, and WORKED.
today, tis still the same story, its fast, clean and works.
but a Mac without Firewire is like a shark without fins - menacing, but no real danger.
you mean, like a shark with no teeth..... right?
(a shark with fins, but no teeth will be menacing, but no real danger)
but then along came the spanmmers, who took advantages of the open relays, and requiring the need for more hoops than you can shake at. Now email is point to point
you send to your SMTP server on your ISP/work, and that gets delivered direct to the SMTP server at the destination. in LARGE companies it may go through 2 or 3 SMTP servers within the same company, but in general point to point these days.
still the protocol does allow some failover, so you are still right in essence
actually the android system can be cut down for smaller phones too. Its not that hard to believe, remember a lot of Moto phones now run on linux, and these are normal feature phones, not smart ones.
Just ship a version of android, without touchscreen/android market/downloads, and a smaller wap broswer, and u shoudl be able to scale down.
the G1 will be released free on contract on T-Mobile UK (though with a £40 a month contract, which includes data)
its MP3 player is sweet, just appears as a normal USB mass storage device, drag and drop, and supports AAC, MP3, and even the dratted wma
ok, lets get this clear on the bluetooth side. There is a full bluetooth stack on the phones. Its none other than Bluez used my most linux distros. It does work , and thats why headset/handsfree works.
What is not included is the full API for bluetooth, and that was because they simply ran out of time. Its nearly there, but Google did not want to risk putting a nearly there API, and then be stuck with it in the future. They wanted to get it right.
this was all mentioned in the release notes.
So, wait for the firmware update, and BTW, this phone updates nicely over the air!
I agree with u on the MMS side. in fact the androids way of handling MMS is classy!
I know you said it as a joke, but didn't Google itself start from a garage?
Ah yes, the good old BS1363 plug! A remarkably engineered product, where the engineering committee thought of literally EVERYTHING, including blinds slipping on the pins while plugged in.
Except for one MAJOR flaw..... when corded up.. they tend to fall on the floor, pins facing up .... and anyone who has experienced it, will tell you..... stepping on one by accident, redefines the meaning of pain!
Thankfully, some manufacturers have cottoned on have had created a pyramidal back, which helps.
For the Americans who don't know what the BS1363 is, it's the Electrical Plug used in the UK :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_1363
Although the parent is somewhat trollish, he is nevertheless right.
In USA, the main "experience" of smart phones prior to the iPhone are the Blackberries, which admittedly did a single job, and did it WELL.
Here in Europe, we have had smart phones for a significantly longer time. Starting with the Nokia Communicator Series, and the Ericsson PXXX series, and people buying smartphones as a "cheaper replacement" to PDAs (mobile phoen subsidies made these devices cheaper than PDAs, hence the PDA market tanking here).
The fact is, even before the iPhone was released, you already see "normal" people carryign smart phones. In fact the Nokia N95 is still a highly popular phone over here in the UK, released before the iPhone, it simply won a lot of sales, thanks to its built in GPS, Radio, decent call qaulity, 5mp camera and VGA 30fps recording. Specs that sold the device, and is still selling the device.
Many have bought the iPhone as a new device, and it has found some users for its innovations. But it is not as popular in this country, because as a smart phone, users DO find it inferior. Secondly, its call quality is NOT as good as the Nokia's and Sony Ericssons around.
It also fails in the ring tones, and MMS stuff, which ARE used a lot here. (sending email is NOT popular for impulse messages, SMS still rules, and MMS is still popular).
Anyway, we shall see.
Ok, I have mixed feelings of the merits of the iPod. As a caveat, I have to mention I do own an iPod touch 16GB. I also own a Nokia n95, a SonyEricsson k800i, an iPaq, and Motorola bluetooth headphones. I have also used an iPod Shuffle, an iPod Nano, and a creative Labs Muvo.
I would be first to admit, the ipods are not all that hot in terms of features and sound quality. I have read a review earlier this year, where various music players (including phones) were tested for pure sound quality including dynamic range, etc (testing the analogue side of the hardware too). The Ipods generally came on the middle to the bottom of the range, witht he iPhone and iPod touch coming at the bottom of the ipods, and the ipod Shuffle performing best, and above average compared to other devices from other manufacturers.
The best Player Only devices were from Sony, followed very closely by Samsung and Creative. Even the Phones came very highly rated, with the SonyEriccson K800i coming on top, and only "beaten" by some really good player only devices by Sony. My Nokia N95 is also "better" than the iPods. Add to the fact that many other devices also have FM radio.
The N95 allows direct download of podcasts (something the iPhone does not allow, AND apple have banned an app that tried to allow that).
Even the so called "simplicity" of iTunes has been called to task. I now know of many other music managers that do a pretty good job of managing sound libraries. In fact, many (including Windows Media Player) can even sync with ANY standard USB Mass Storage Device. Considering that itunes cannot "monitor" a set of folders to see changes, and update a library on its own (you need to download ITLu to do that), it is poorer in many aspects.
The iPod touch does not support the Bluetooth headphones I have. The iPaq, the K800, and the N95 did. in fact, before I got the ipod touch, I used to connect my Ipaq and my k800 to the headphones simultaneously. the iPaq would feed music wirelessly, and when a phone call came through, the headset would automatically switch to the phone, and send a pause command to the iPaq, resuming automatically when the call was ended. All this happened seamlessly, and wirelessly, despite being made by different manufacturers... it "just worked".
But..... despite all this, I still use the iPod Touch.. why?
a) the iPod's screen is VERY nice, yet portable. I watch a lot of podcasts, and sometimes movies on the train to work. the N95 is not as good as the iPod.
b) ability to sync "Played" statuses between iPods and iTunes, which allows me to manage the podcasts effectively (deleting played ones in itunes). I understand this is not a very strong reason, because if I used the N95, to download (via wireless/3g) I dont even need to involve a computer in the first place.
c) On a day to day basis, I don't like my phone running out of battery. the N95 does not charge from USB, and Although it may be a better music player, I would rather have the battery for other reasons, such as making calls.
d) Maybe because I paid so much for a iPod Touch, I feel more compelled to use it. (maybe despite my better judgment, I am subconsciously attracted to "pretty things", as well as the Jobs Reality Distortion field.)
e) I am just a lazy procrastinator.
But as You can see, a lot of these reasons are flimsy at best, and I will be doing a test where I will replace my ipod with my n95 for one day, and see how that goes on the morning commute.
I am also scoping Android.....
So maybe Woz has a point.
You, my friend, are thinking TOO hard!
(wonder if there is a version when people think TOO hard, or are overloaded on caffeine, probably helps here on slashdot)
I use the operating system that is RIGHT FOR THE JOB.
At home, on my dual core Athlon 64x2, I run Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and its my gaming rig, as well as a mutimedia rig. this is my FUN computer, which I use for serious fun. My parents use it too, and its fine, I have locked theior accounts as limited users, they are happy, it performs well, and I am Happy. It performs well enough, as is not the resourse hog people make out to be. I do have a Linux Ubuntu partition on it, which I occassianally use, for some purpose or another.
On my HOME laptop, I use XP Media center Edition, and it performs its job well. I also have a Ubuntu parition too, who I use often, but not as much as Windows.
At work, however, where I am a Software Engineer, I have chosen a custom Ubuntu Linux 64/32bit hybrid system, to manage my Quad core 4MB ram behemoth. I prefer Linux for my work PC, for what I am using it for. I do have Windows XP in a Vitual Machine, which I occasionally run for testing, which I use for testing.
My Work Laptop is a Mac......
Point being, use the OS that suits your tasks.
64-bit vista CAN see more than 3.25GBs of RAM.. unlike XP64.
If you read the grandparent post, he/she is talking of 64bit Vista.
You hit the nail on the head. You have signed up to a 2 year compulsory contract, yet you have (at least) a 5 year hidden contract, as you will NOT be able to use the phone on any other network, shoudl you wish to move. (this is on the assumption that after their exclusive deal is up, they will actually allow firmware updates to unlock the simlock, which I seriosuly doubt).
So yes, it stiffles competition, as people are likely to remain on AT&T just to use their iPhone, even after the 2 years is up.
Because it breaks the idea of subsidies.I am not sure how these things are like in the USA, but here in the UK, when you buy a phone it is likely to be SIM Locked to the network as the cost of the phone is subsidised to the monthly contract.
I am on T-Mobile (UK) myself.
T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and 3, typically do that. They also typically customise the phone in such a way, to usually make it easier to use on their network. The customisations can be subtle in the case of T-Mobile (excluding the N95/VOIP fiasco), where the phone is not vastly modified, to outright butchery in Vodaphone/Orange, and 3.
Nevertheless, once a phone is out of the subsidy period, it is YOUR phone, and legally you should be able to unlock it to all networks. In the case of T-Mobile (and I suspect the others) they will on request (and possibly for a small admin fee) provide you with the sim unlock code, to unlock the phone. I have heard that in many cases, they even gave the code, even before the subsidy term was over.
T-Mobile promised the same deal for the upcoming G1 Android phone, in that it CAN be unlocked once the sub period is over.
I personally buy my upgrades via Carphone Warehouse, as they source it idependantly, so phones are unlocked, and unbranded to T-Mobile, so I get the best of both worlds, a subsidised UNLOCKED phone.
O2, intrestingly do NOT usually simlock their phones, unless its a specific O2 made phone. O2 is the UK's Exclusive network for the iPhone, and the iPhone is the first GENERAL phone O2 provides which IS simlocked.
The point being is that, after the 2 year contract period with AT&T (or O2 in the UK) you STILL will not be able to unlock the iPhone, and use it with other networks, so in effect you still ARE locked into AT&T/O2. It is YOUR GSM phone, that has no TECHINCAL reason why it should not work on any other network, other than plain nastyness by Apple/AT&T/O2.
This may not be totally legal in the UK (and same in the USA), especially as it is sold as a GSM phone. If Apple/O2/AT&T allows to unlock after 2 years, then they are ok, but something tells me that will not be the case.
Note: this may be also why the Pay As You Go version was pulled from O2, as technically you own the phone straight away.
I cannot understand the reason why the parent is a troll. The "application" in this case is a web application, not a native installed application.
The post, states clearly:
"Apple is allowing IBM's Lotus to be installed on iPhones. Recently it killed a developer submitted program that was deemed competitive with Apple's product."
Which is wrong. I cannot see that the parent is a "troll". IT could even be argued the actual Slashdot post is a troll (patent lie, followed by a heated "angle" to start a flamewar)
I have written a post to this, where I have actually had to test various phones with 1D and 2D barcodes. You right about 1D barcodes, but you missed a third factor, Focus, or more specifically Macro.
- Good Optics ensure the accuracy of the image, reducing barrel, and avoiding distortion (which will kill 1D accuracy more than 2D)
- Focusing, and Macro to get as close to the bar code as possible, to "fill" the image as much as possible.
- Megapixel count, to get as much detail of the line widths to accurately retrieve the info.
The G1 will be reasonable with 1D barcodes (we have tested with a 3.2 MP HTC TyTnII which has either similar or poorer optics to the HTC made G1). IT works better with flat "Standard" barcodes (the ones which are about 1 - 1.5 inch wide). it is not good enough for really wide 1D barcodes.
its 2D performance is excellent.
It is arguable whether the grandparent is an "anti apple" troll, however he is right to say
The iPhone does not have Autofocus or rather, more specifically a "Macro" mode. This makes it MUCH harder to accurately focus in on and scan a 2D barcode, let alone a 1D one.
And I am not talking out of my behind either, as I am a developer who 6 months ago was working on a project for marketing company where we were using 2D barcodes with embedded URLs as part of a promotion.
We tested the system on many phones, including:
- HTC Tytn II (T-Mobile Vario III). The G1 android based phone will have an equal or slightly better camera. (3MP camera with autofocus, no LED, or flash)
- Nokia N95 (5Mp Camera with autofocus + LED light)
- SonyEricsson K800 (3.2Megapixel with Xenon Flash)+ K750 (2.0Megapixel with LED light)
-Apple iPhone (2 megapixel, no autofocus, no LED light)
-Moto Razr V3i (1.2 Megapixel, No AutoFocus, no LED light)
-plus a few others.
Using the same algorithm, (java for the normal phones, Symbian for the N95, MacOS for the iPhone, and Windows CE for the TyTn)
The iphone, n95, and the Tytn (as well as other smartphoens running native code) did a "live"scan, as they scanned on the fly. The Java based phones had to take the picture first, before scanning.
All the cameras without autofocus performed poorly. The v3i with its non live scanning required many attempts at taking the photo before it could recognise the barcode. The iPhone had to be held at the "right distance" (a little further away than comfortable) to have enough focus to resolve the 2D code, and was simply too far away to scan the 1D code in any reasonable resolution to resolve.
The k750, despite being only 2MP did very well on the 2D codes, thanks to the AutoFocus and macro capabilities,Its 1D performance was not so good, despite getting the best possible image, it was often unable to resolve the exact sizes of the bars, to be accurate.
the K800, and the TyTn were much better at both 2D and 1D, and the Tytn had the advantage of live scanning, which allowed quicker resolution, as u just adjust your hand until the phone picked up the code. (The G1 android will be similar to the TyTn in camera performance)
The Nokia N95 was the best at both 2D and 1D, and indeed comes with a barcode scanner as a built in app, which was even better than our app, as it used the accelerometer to judge the camera shake.
So although the iphone is "useable" with 2D barcodes, it was (apart from the V3) the poorest of therest, as it required a steady hand, a specific camera to subject distance. IT was pretty much unusable on 1D, as we were unable to get it close enough to use up as much of the sensor (and therefore the 2MP resolution) without loosing focus. and in general, would be a frustration to use in the supermarket (even with 2D) or on the train for example.
Dotn get me wrong, I am NOT anti Apple, and we WANTED to have a version fo the software on the iPhone, but frankly it just was not usable enough for the average person with very little patience. And its 1D performance was simply not up to it.
So yes, as the experiment with the K750 (And anotehr dedicated 2MP Nikon) has shown it is POSSIBLE to scan 1D on a 2MP, its resolution is, even with great optics, and macro still very difficult. Taken away the macro, and its impossible.