Price Comparison Gets Smarter
Your local retailers are just going to love this - the Amazon mobile app now does barcode scanning:
So when you aren't sure whether you're getting a bargain or not - now you can ask your phone. Pretty cool.
Oracle and IBM Shoot at Android
Looks to me like Google will have to do a lot more of the heavy lifting on the underlying Andrloid platform - it's based on Harmony, something that IBM had been supporting until now. InfoWorld reports:
The core of the IBM-Oracle deal is that those employees will now switch their attention to OpenJDK, Oracle's in-house open source Java implementation. The move completely sucks the wind out of Harmony's sails, with Tim Ellison, one of Harmony's senior developers, essentially conceding the project will probably fold in short order.
At the very least, Google will have to start throwing resources at the project - resources that they have been putting elsewhere. The Google/Oracle lawsuit will drag on for eons before anything happens - this, on the other hand, will have a pretty immediate impact.
Real World Collides with the Internet
We usually think of "cyberspace" as its own thing, but it helps to remember that it's run by physical devices in real places. Ben Metcalfe just found that out the hard way - one of the domains they use in the .ly space (Libya) got shut down for political/religious reasons:
The domain was seized by the Libyan domain registry for reasons which seemed to be kept obscure until we escalated the issue. We eventually discovered that the domain has been seized because the content of our website, in their opinion, fell outside of Libyan Islamic/Sharia Law.
It also looks like it's easy to be ignorant of the law/rules in some places around the world:
An additional concern is that the clause being used here pertains to Libyan Islamic Law which appears impossible to find listed in English.
Just remember that your site or domain is running on real hardware somewhere, and if that somewhere isn't under the same legal regime that you live under, you could be in for some unpleasant surprises.
Technorati Tags: domain
ISP Disconnects
Engadget notes that ClearWire is throttling aggressively:
As the story goes, it seems as if the company is pulling back on upload and download speeds (from 10Mbps to around 0.25Mbps) for users who have consumed between 7GB and 10GB in a month, which is comically low even compared to Comcast's hated 250GB / month usage cap
The thing is, that's a trivial amount of bandwidth. Download a few movies from Netflix, iTunes, or shows from Hulu, and you could be done. In other words, use your connection as a normal person might, and you're done. There's a complete disconnect between how ISPs think you ought to use your connection, and how people are actually using them.
Technorati Tags: isp, bandwidth, throttling
This is Why Your Mobile Coverage is Bad
It's not so much about "greedy" wireless companies as it is about the rising tide of NIMBY-ism, combined with the wild theory that mobile signals are bad for you. If that's the case, then we had best ban radio as well, and erect a barrier in the atmosphere against radiation from space:
The ordinance passed unanimously this week by the Hempstead town board prohibits wireless companies from installing equipment closer than 1,500 feet to homes, day care centers, schools and houses of worship, unless they submit compelling evidence that there is an absolute need. Hempstead, home to America's first suburban community — Levittown — is a densely populated township just east of New York City.
What you won't see reported much is the same people who pushed for this wondering "why is my signal weak" later on.
Technorati Tags: mobile phone, cell tower
Oh Noes, Google To Own the Tubes
Back in the early and mid 90's, the elites thought that Microsoft was going to own the industry. Now they think Google will. The ironic part is that this report (PDF) was released the same week that commentators have been chattering about Facebook becoming more dominant than Google.
I'll give the would be regulators some free advice - leave things alone.
Software Patents - Harmful to Meaningless
I like this take on the patent system from Slashdot:
The backlog of patents is almost 730K. And the Commerce Department under the Obama administration wants the average down to 20 months. How does this happen? Only if everyone closes their eyes and pretends. It's time to take drastic action, like ending software patents. As it is, by the time companies get a software patent, there's little value to them because, after six years, the industry has already moved on.
At the very least, any patent should require a working version of what's being patented - so that utterly absurd things like the Paul Allen suits are impossible.
Technorati Tags: USPTO, patents, software patents
Bloglines Dies
The entire dedicated RSS reader space is dying:
But people no longer seem to be abandoning certain readers for others—or for other ways to access those same feeds. Instead, they appear to be abandoning RSS readers as a way to read the news altogether. Hitwise, for instance, tells us that visits to Google Reader are down 27 percent year-over-year, while visits to Bloglines are down 71 percent year-over-year.
The main reason I still work with BottomFeeder is that it's tied in with my blog server, and works for how I post to my site. I have no illusions about the wider space :)
Technorati Tags: rss, atom, rss reader
Flash and IOS
I think I see what's going on with Flash and IOS - in this story about Apple's about face, note ths paragraph:
Other cross-platform compiler makers had had no such trouble, even during the monthslong stretch when the now-obsolete Apple policy had supposedly been in effect. Both Appcelerator and Unity Technologies, which sell iOS programming tools, stressed on Thursday that developers using their compilers had been able to get ported programs into the App Store since April.
The article also points out that nothing has changed vis-a-vis Flash in the browser; this simply allows Adobe's cross compiler to work. So developers can ship Flash based apps for IOS, but they still can't post Flash video and have it work - because the latter involves downloading code to the browser, which is still a no-no unless said code is Javascript.
My guess then is that Apple realized that they had a stickly legal issue - they were approving other cross compilers, while shoving Adobe up against a wall. That was going to lead to more than just bad PR; eventually, there would have been some kind of legal blowback.
At the end of the day, there's less here than meets the eyes for end users. Flash content is still inaccessible from IOS devices, so the great "Flash vs. HTML 5" battle will rage on....
iTunes 10 Looks Different
Ok, the new iTunes has an odd UI element - look at the window buttons at the top left:
I don't really have an opinion on it, but it sure is different.
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