So the new iPhone os was announced today: http://www.appleinsider.com/article...eatures_100_minor_features_in_iphone_4_0.html Multitasking is a feature.
Good to hear, and I saw that it is coming to iPad this fall. So, multitasking will finally be supported on the iPhone (iPhone 3GS only though, the 3G won't support it) and on the iPad. However, still no Flash.
And my venerable aluminum 2G iPhone gets the shaft. It bears noting that the iPad has sold nearly a half million units since launch. If it continues on a decent pace, Apple could outsell every other tablet PC combined in 2010.
Do you understand how Windows Genuine Advantage works? Okay, here's a description: You reinstall Windows and either fail to enter a key, enter an incorrect key, or enter a key that's already in use in another computer. Windows still installs. You try to activate it online and it fails. You are given 30 days to enter a valid key. If you fail to enter a valid key at the end of 30 days... it nags you every once in a while that you might be running a counterfeit version of Windows. You can still download critical updates, but you can't install the optional updates. You can still use your computer however you want to, you can install and run software, it's just that every once in a while you get a notification. This is egregious? I'm no fan of WGA, it's irritating and it just doesn't work (sometimes giving false positives, sometimes giving false negatives). And Vista's original implementation of the system was several steps too far; after the 30 days expired almost all you could do with your computer was use it to buy a licence key online. But that was apparently patched out with SP1 to make it do what XP did. If Microsoft collapsed tomorrow I think you can now agree that reinstalling Windows wouldn't be such a big deal (unless you had a Vista RTM disc) and that even the nuisance that is the counterfeit notifications would easily be taken away by a hack. The bigger deal would be that the Windows Updates servers would also be wiped out and you wouldn't be able to download security patches, and Windows needs regular security patches. That's a reason not to use Windows after the apocalypse, the verification issue is not. One of the reasons why I don't have a Kindle. That and the fact that I'm poor. I completely agree with you on this. But I also remember how back in the 90s Windows 95 and 98 discs were being passed around and installed by people who didn't buy them. Almost everyone I knew that had a computer back in those days had Win 95 or 98, but I knew precisely one person who had actually bought it. Hell, I used to borrow the disc from them and loan it to my school friends and I had no idea what I was doing was illegal. See, that's what WGA is all about, stopping casual computer users from loaning their Windows disc to their friends and letting them install a single licence on a dozen computers. If you're a reasonably experienced Windows user you'll know how to to circumvent it. Hell, I know how to install a single licence onto multiple computers without resorting to cracks but by using Microsoft's own services (not that I'd ever do such a thing, of course ). If you know about computers the validation system isn't a road-block, it's not even a traffic light. It's a temporary speed limit at most. Actually, you've made it very hazy, but I digress. Because you used it as a flawed example in a failed attempt to criticise Microsoft. You want to criticise Microsoft for vendor lock-in? The Xbox 360 is a great example of Microsoft's "evil" tendencies. If you want to buy a harddrive for it you have to buy a Microsoft branded harddrive which is hugely inflated in cost. They refuse to include a web browser so that you have to use their services, or the services of companies they have contracts with. If you mod your 360 for any reason they block it from being able to go online. And that's before I even mention its giant failure rate. If you hack a pirated version of Windows you can do everything can do on a regular version of Windows. Now, I had heard that if you jailbroke your iPhone you couldn't use the App Store anymore, but after doing some research it appears I may be wrong about that. If that's the case then I'll hold up my hands and admit my mistake. I know very little about the playsforsure issue, I've only ever bought unrestricted mp3. If it is the case that they abandoned their customers I'm not going to defend them. Perhaps not, but you still said very misleading things. It may not have been your intention, but when it came to Windows verification you were incorrect in almost every way. I'm sorry, but it's hard to see how someone involved in the tech world as substantially as you claim to be over the last decade could possibly have been so incorrect without being so on purpose, but I am willing to accept that it was an honest mistake since you apparently don't use Windows. I accept that I misread your intentions and that you weren't defending Apple. I hope you can understand why I felt that way.
I was reading at work (But I don't remember the site) that they gave rough estimate price for the HP line. Anyone have the link? It said tha tit was more expensive the Ipad release of same HD size (but it does have more options so I do understand that), but for some who wanted more features and a lower price it doesn't not appear to be this release. Also at least with the phone the multitasking will be a software update (I can't recall if they said the same about the ipad, though since I believe it should be the same, but I easily could be wrong).
I believe it is listed at being $550-599, depending on hard drive size. Not bad really, especially given that the iPad can go a lot higher with all the options available for it.
No link, but I read a similar bit. The HP was going to be starting around $50 to $60 more than the base model ipad for the base model slate. However some tech heads are saying that the battery life for the slate may be as short as 3 hours (worst case) depending on use, based on the atom chip and windows 7 combination and how it's fared in the past. The atom chip also may have some heat issues in the slate's configuration as well, which means the device may run hot. iPad gets the multi tasking iDeviceOS 4.x in the fall.
I think half the problem with the HP unit is trying to get decent battery life out of an x86 processor. Atoms run hot, no doubt about it. But Windows doesn't run on any other architecture, and nobody wants to sell Linux-based slates. It would be fucking sweet if somebody came up with an ARM-based slate. (Besides the iPad, which is indeed ARM-based.)
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/10/over-50-arm-based-tablets-launching-this-year/ Looks like there will be plenty to choose from. I'm going to be very interested to see how they do. Maybe the iPad and the various Android tablets will finally lift the tablet market out of niche-level obscurity.
Well, someone cares about HTML5. Apparently Mozilla just cherrypicked one of the best programmers at my company to help them bring Ogg Theora up to spec.
You have to remember it's not really just a war against Flash but all plug-ins. Flash just happens to be the largest of them and the most used. You can't watch a QuickTime video either from the web. The new Microsoft windows phones supposedly doesn't support Flash as well but there is no outcry about that, yet. Yes, Apple could included everything in a first generation product, but then the price would be astronomical. By bringing a well made item, that's very revolutionary in at a price that people are willing to pay is important to build a brand. Apple sold a ton of the original iPhone at $699. for the 16gb version. Now people are complaining about paying $599 for the 32gb version of the iPad. You also have to allow for growth and gained knowledge when going into something new. With each generation the product will get better from the knowledge gained from the previous version.
Mozilla isn't going to get anywhere with their Ogg fixation. They're the only company whose browser doesn't support H.264 in HTML5 streaming and they're deluded if they really think that Ogg will break out and become an honest-to-God standard.
Information on the HP Slate with Pictures Below! http://conecti.ca/2010/04/15/mini-review™-hp-slate-pc-ipad-no-tiembla-ni-de-frio/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/05/hp-slate-to-cost-549-have-1-6ghz-atom-z530-5-hour-battery/ Looks to be bulkier than an iPad More features though, less price, specially for the 64GB version