pedanticfreak

Despite that it is still better looking than the Android Market Web Store. The best thing I can say about the Android Market is that it is remarkably fast.

Not only are they using unlicensed game assets, but it seems they are violating the GPL as well.

I suspect iCoder knew what it was doing all along.

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-...

Of course, you get what you pay for in coverage

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage

Meanwhile in Canada you can't even get unlimited data over wired internet.

South Korea built vast infrastructure around IE6 and ActiveX. Just a year ago a full 60% of Korean traffic still came from IE6. Why? Because they relied heavily on features that were not in the spec that Microsoft deprecated and nobody else can or will implement.

An extreme example. But it highlights the importance of sticking to specs that can be freely implemented by anyone. Five years from now when MPEGLA decides to throw down the crap hammer do you want to have to keep around old Safari binaries just for sites that migrated to h264 while the rest of the web moved on?

Of course, Google owns VP8. So they are pushing it so it might become a defacto standard that later gets officially adopted. Despite meeting the requirements to be part of the HTML spec, without the official backing of the W3C it is no different than any other out of spec extension to HTML.

Every charity wants to arm its people with an iPad or send out a free iPhone app to collect donations. Ever notice how there aren't any?

Are Netflix and Hulu going to hand over 30% of their subscription fees to Apple if the user wants to fire up the service on an iOS device? Is that even feasible?

Are the Apple tax examiners going to look for login screens and reject apps based solely on that now?

No, probably not. It's probably just a cover for Apple to beat up on its competitors (Amazon, Barnes and Noble) and to let everyone else (Netflix, Hulu) get a free pass. Much like how Apple singled out Adobe yet allowed Appcelerator and UNITY to continue without pause.

Having the evidence in code would have made the accusation irrefutable.

I think more recently Amazon has allowed publishers to use an alternative agency model that lets the publishers set their own prices and Amazon takes a fixed percentage cut of the sale. This doesn't cause Amazon to lose money, but now publishers can sell eBooks at nearly the same price as paper books which hurts the Kindle's attractiveness and slows adoption.

Regardless, this is an unworkable situation Apple has constructed. Amazon barely makes 30% of the sale price of each book if it even makes that much at all. It can hardly afford to give away its entire fee and then some to Apple.

This is either a strong arm attempt to get Amazon to agree to a strategic agreement for a fraction of the revenue or Apple is simply trying to destroy the Amazon Kindle app entirely. Either way Apple wins and Amazon loses. I suppose consumers can come out ahead if the strategic agreement allows in app purchasing of Kindle books for the same price, but it could also be bad if the iOS Kindle app disappears.

There are more than a few more powerful alternatives to an iPhone that are open source and ready to hack. Most of them can even make phone calls.

Really, it's stunts like this that shows how much iOS leads the competition. Like electing a convicted murderer to public office because his competition is that incompetent. Android isn't forcing Apple to compete on its terms at all.

Without a doubt, this whole thing is a poor abuse of statistics. It doesn't take a genius to figure out you can make $100,000 and keep a lot in the bank by living like someone who makes $30,000. Which, by the way, there are quite a few of those people in the United States.

This newest development sets a truly frightening precedent, though. Any subscription service that sees significant growth through their iOS app is vulnerable to Apple's tax collectors. As soon as it looks like you're making money, Apple can jump in and extort 30% of your gross revenue or sink your whole business. Granted, maybe you owe some thanks to Apple, but 30% can quickly turn a sustainable business into a bankrupt one.

Considering Amazon already loses money on each Kindle book sold, losing an extra 30% on top of that may not be a financially viable option. Apple is effectively trying to edge Amazon out of its marketplace.

The Consumer Expenditure Survey the author cites says the 25-34 year old that spends 37.1% of their salary on housing is only making $58,946 per year, NOT $100,000 per year.

Whether intentional or not, the survey is being misrepresented to the benefit of the author's argument.

It's an incredible value. Almost too good of a value actually. But that is what Amazon might just need to compete with the likes of Netflix. Much like the losses they have been taking on Kindle books, maybe they will start eating it on streaming video rentals, too.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/17/disney-to-sell-android-ph...

HTC, Foxconn, and Samsung will build it with your logo on the back; Google will provide the OS updates; and you just need to provide the value add like integration with a popular service whether that's Facebook, MTV, or Disney. Even Barnes and Noble was able to make a nice Android device with its own App Store.

Such a venture could easily pay for itself like Google's Chrome and Android projects did. It's a tough call. No matter what Facebook is reliant on Google and Apple for its mobile future. Then again the easiest path for Facebook (i.e. Android) also ties them even more closely to Google's whims.

600 mhz A8? We're in the 1.2ghz range right now. Two, three, and four core designs are about to be commonplace.

It's as if I said I was happy and someone responded "What? You only make $50,000 per year, your country's GDP to pollution ratio is 4.25, and you had 2.13 medical procedures last year at a 26.7 percent premium over the global average, you CAN'T be happy!"

Wouldn't it make more sense to figure out which people actually are happy then figure out the statistical correlations? Although from what I've read there aren't any meaningful correlations. Happiness is defined and continuously redefined by experience.

Google might not have a quantity of patents, but it seems to have enough quality patents to sit quite comfortably.

My criticisms of the Kindle are for its page transitions and poor interface. The Kindle is really like the Blackberry of of digital readers. The interface is beyond clunky compared to simple taps and swipes that much more closely emulate the act of reading a physical book.

My best hope is that Mirasol comes to the Nook Color sooner rather than later as I highly doubt the iPad will come with a non-backlit display for several generations.