Windows 8 is the real deal, not iPad, Android tablets

by Anna Lopez | posted: August 9, 2011 7 comments

Microsoft has been saying that people should be ready to expecting more from tablets than what is being delivered by the market, currently being topped off by the Apple iPad and a raft of what it calls ‘me too’ devices in the sense of Androids.

The firm argues the tablets on the market at the this point are heavily advertised devices – in that they are only really made for watching movies or surfing websites – but that the next generation will be a ‘richer experience’ and much more skewed towards creating things.

In an industry largely made up of Apple iPads and rows of Google Android based rivals, Microsoft believes its Windows offering is in the pipeline to take advantage of this new dawn of change in expectations.

“Like any opening market it’s going to grow like billy-o, you just have to see how it matures. The door has been opened by the media tablet, and that makes people think ‘where do I go next’, said David Rodger, Microsoft’s partner strategy lead that is responsible for tablets to MCV.

“People will progressively expect more and more from the device they have. I’m not saying our competition won’t evolve with that, but certainly we believe we’re there already.”

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Frankly it sees a massive opening in the business market: “That’s where we’re seeing an opportunity with our devices. What’s happened is Apple has come in, and then a lot of ‘me too’ devices have followed, primarily aimed at the consumer. From our perspective, we really understand business needs.”

On whether Apple can actually be kicked off from the top spot in such a market shift competitiveness, Rodger said: “They (Apple) obviously have the position they have right now in the market. The next generation brings a richer experience, not just a consumption experience.”

via Windows 8 is the real deal, not iPad, Android tablets | Myona.com.

AT&T says Verizon’s first LTE phone is ‘going to be a fat brick’

By Joshua Topolsky posted Mar 23rd 2010 3:08PM

Ooh wee! Verizon and AT&T are getting all hot and bothered over the forthcoming LTE battle — a battle which much like the current map wars, you can expect to grow weary of in about two minutes. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, both carriers have put reps in the limelight for a volley of tough talk. For starters, AT&T’s CTO John Donovan claimed that Verizon was jumping the gun with its first-on-the-scene LTE rollout, suggesting initial devices are “going to drain the battery like crazy, and [they're] going to be a fat brick,” noting that “2012 will be the time when you’ll have decent handsets.” Donovan lumped on the hits by also saying that “Anyone who says their network is ready for the iPhone — or the broader mobile data explosion that AT&T has experienced — is being naive.” Of course, Big Red didn’t just sit there and take it — spokesman Jim Gerace fired back that “No matter how much our competitors talk, it’s not going to slow us down,” though he offered no further comment on the insults’ stride-breaking potential. Both parties were mum on just how fleeced the consumer would be getting once the LTE pricing plans are announced, of course.

via AT&T says Verizons first LTE phone is going to be a fat brick — Engadget.

At&t is daring me to cancel them. FIX IT!

In case you have been inside a cave the last several hours, img.4chan.org is being blocked for DSL customers. They say it is because of security reasons. I talked to their tech line for  one hour and 35 minutes and first spoke with Irwin, 1st level tech, then Felicia, 2nd level tech, then James, teamlead Richmond City, tx call center , then Charles, operations manager at a Calif. call center. Charles took down my information and told me someone would call me back tomorrow.

Maybe.  I tried to pin down Charles with the question, why if it is a security risk is At&t not blocking the site on my iphone? At&t dsl and uverse customers are effected. Uverse customers are being effected as well, thanks kfill!

Update 1: as of 1258 am, July 27th the ping comes back up spotty. it still times out but occational will show a reply. Did At&t buckle?

Update 2: As of 0830, July 27th ping still come up spotty. AT&T says it is because of DD0S attacks. So they had to “act”.

Update 3:  1202 pm, July 27th, The current news is that AT&T unblocks img.4chan.org.  However ping still times out and is spotty. WTF At&t?

Update 4: 1632, July 27th, 4chan finally comes up.  At&t came through, good job assholes. You have evaded me cancelling you for now … until I get my Sbhacker skills up.

by Jason Kincaid on July 26, 2009

As if AT&T wasn’t already bad enough. In an act that is sure to spark internet rebellions everywhere, AT&T has apparently declared war on the extremely popular imageboard 4chan.org, blocking some of the site’s most popular message boards, including /r9k/ and the infamous /b/. moot, who started 4chan and continues to run the site, has posted a note to the 4chan status blog indicating that AT&T is in fact filtering/blocking the site for many of its customers (we’re still trying to confirm from AT&T’s side).

Reports of the blocking began to surface on reddit this afternoon, and a number of blogsare beginning to pick up on the story, though it doesn’t seem like any have managed to get a comment from AT&T (we’ve reached out to the company and will update once we hear back).

4chan has been called many things, most of which aren’t particularly flattering. Some parts of the site are entirely unmoderated, leading to a wild-west, highly NSFW environment where irreverance, mischief, and lewdness thrive (I like to think of it as the Mos Eisley of the web). But that doesn’t mean the site isn’t extremely influential on web culture. Many of its exploits are famous, including taking over the Time 100 list, and it’s also where some of the Internet’s most famous memes got their start, including the Rick Roll and LOLcats. It’s also known as the main hub for Anonymous, a group that has held a very public campaign against Scientology.

In other words, AT&T has just opened perhaps the most vindictive, messy can of worms it could have possibly found. Blocking any site is an extreme breach of user trust, but the decision to block 4chan in particular just seems stupid. Expect the web equivalent of rioting if this doesn’t change soon.

Chinese newspapers have been piecing together Foxconn worker Sun Danyong’s final hours, and claim to have recovered his final text message to his girlfriend, sent two hours before he died. It’s clear something horrible was happening to him:

“My dear, I’m sorry, go back home tomorrow, something has happened to me, please don’t tell my family, don’t contact me, this is the first time that I have ever begged you, please agree to that! I am so sorry!”

And in what is reportedly his final online chat—supposedly verified as authentic—Sun tells a friend he never stole the phone, and thinks it was swiped. He also again implies that he was tortured, or at least forcefully detained and interrogated with physical force, clearly contradicting what Foxconn’s security chief told a Chinese paper:

“Even at a police station, the law says force must never be used, much less in a corporate office. I was just a suspect, my dear head of security, so what reason and right do you have to confine me and use force?

If Foxconn is directly involved in his death, it and all of its executives could go bankrupt a million times over and that would still not even come to close to justice for Sun Danyong. [The New Yorker]

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 8:58AM

When a former Apple product engineer mixes up some Google-juice with MC Hammer you’d be surprised at what you get. If you guessed a range of household Android devices sporting 4.3- to 10-inch touchscreens, WiFi, and Ethernet connectivity well, that would be weird… but you’d be right. Mark Hamblin, the founder and CEO of Touch Revolution who claims to have worked on the iPhone and iPod touch, breaks down the Touch Revolution product family into three major categories: 1) home control to manage lights, security, heating and ventilation, 2) media control for the TV, stereo, and DVR programming, and 3) home-based smartphones like the NIMble we played with at CES. The first Touch Revolution modules will launch later this year inside a range of devices that can be hand-held, placed on a tabletop, or even embedded in a wall. While not naming names, Hamblin says that the hardware and software will be customized and sold by “companies with major brands” before the end of the year in the “US and elsewhere.” As for Hammer, that’s hard to say — but we’d buy pretty much anything he’d like to officially endorse.

via engadget

Uh oh Microsoft, this can’t be good news. HTC, the premier manufacturer of Windows Mobile handsets is rumored to be shifting half of its inventory to Google’s Android OS in 2010. To put this in perspective, HTC lists 28 devices listed on its European website and of those, just 2 run Android today. DigiTimes‘ sources claim that HTC is on track to make 30% of its 2009 handsets Android-based which means that several of Andy Rubin’s 15 to 20 Android handsets coming this year would have to be HTC branded for this to be true. DigiTimes also claims that HTC will launch a handset that’s simultaneously a “high-profile 3G handset” and “entry-level model” with touchscreen and TouchFlo 3D / Sense UI. HTC is said to achieve this seemingly contradictory feat by basing the handset on Qualcomm’s BREW Mobile Platform when it launches in September or October. Of course, none of this is confirmed, but will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion when HTC reports earnings on July 30th.

HTC adopting Android on 50% of its handsets in 2010?.

Fujifilm Busts Out Five New Cameras, Including a Prosumer Faux-DSLR

Not that it wasn’t official when Time featured it early last week,but now Fujifilm’s now rolled out the proverbial red carpet for its FinePix Real 3D W1 camera, with a press release providing more details about both it and the Real 3D V1 8-inch picture viewer. Some of more notable features on the W1 — aside from being the touted “world’s first 3D imagine system,” of course — is a 3x optical zoom, a 3D LCD system for on-camera viewing, Dual Capture Shooting Mode for taking two shots simultaneously with different settings, and just to be perfectly clear, the ability to shoot video in three mind-blowing dimensions. Additionally, the two lens can be used for some more creative, but decidedly old-fashioned 2D photography. As for the V1 display, it’s got a 3D / 2D LCD panel with 800 x 600 resolution, supports playback of 3D pics and movies, and supports SD / SDHC. No word on what the resolution / card support is for the camera, but for now we’re gonna guess it’s at parity with the frame. If you’re wanting physical 3D prints, Fujifilm says it’ll be providing that service, doing the prints in-house and send them your way. Actual printers for purchase will come once a sustainable market exists (assuming that happens). The W1 camera and V1 frame are listed with a September 2009 launch date, as we previously heard — price is curiously listed as TBA, but since Time already let slip a $600 estimate, take that as your ballpark estimate for the interim.

via Fujifilm’s FinePix Real 3D W1 camera and Real 3D V1 picture viewer detailed, can do 3D movies as well.