The iPhone killer (not really) and the $100 laptop (not really)

So I got a chance to see the Neo 1973 GTA 01 from Openhand... yes this little guy (compared it at once to the iPhone of course). It runs Linux and has a touch screen... and that's where the iPhone similarities end...

 

It is unfortunately nothing like the iPhone.... it is slow, it is ugly, it's menu is difficult to use, and it's touch screen... well... isn't very good. So the new version is coming out in November (the Neo 1973 GTA 02) which is promised to be MUCH better, faster, easier to use... well... we'll see. So far... not impressed and would only go as far as to call it the LG Prada killer which isn't saying much at all. (at least the GTA 01 is that it has a standard USB connector on it, hey I'm trying to look at the bright side)... oh and the cost... about £300. :-(

So let's talk about the other thing... the $100 laptop, which is now $400 but at least it exists... here it is in action.

It's kind of cool... I guess... waterproof, dirt proof, sand proof... sounds like a Panasonic Tough Book.

The screen is... well... very cheap, and those poor children, well their eyes will be ruined after using this baby. So maybe they need to include some Eye Doctor visits coupons with this laptop as well...

Those crazy antennas, and those colours... if poor kids had toys (which they might not) this baby should fit right in. And because it doesn't use IE they might avoid some of those nasty spyware problems. :-)

***Here is some breaking news!!!!***

The deal will be (and it's not yet official, but you've heard it here first) is that for the price of the laptop... you will get one for yourself and one will be donated to a poor child somewhere. So they are trying to figure out how to make this thing cheap (or even free for the poor) interesting idea, we'll see if it catches on.

More updates from Mobile Camp London 2007

Just finished an interesting session about Syncing all your devices and how that could work in the future... it was more of a theoretical discussion than anything else. As well as a session about privacy and network authentication (such as using your phone to do credit card transactions). I had a chance to stop with with the Last.Fm guys Jono Cole and Johan Oskarsson... talk about a cool job. Well if that wasn't enough they were so kind as to bring over their shiny new UNLOCKED iPhone... wow, this thing is cool when it's UNLOCKED.

Yes it's real, the UNLOCK works and look what that means... now the main screen can be FULL of cool apps, such as IRC, IM, Flickr, and games. Now this thing is finally showing what it can really do....

So what games can it play? How about Tetris... how about Network Pong... or how about this...

 

 Yes that is Super Mario Brothers running on the NES emulator on the iPhone... with virtual touch controls! How cool is that?????? Ahhhh, if Apple just let developers develop for this wonderful device instead of locking it down... it's like getting the newest Ferrari and not being able to get out of 2nd gear (it has 7 gears total)... what a waste!

New N95 (8GB), N81, and E51

I'm happy to say I got a chance to use the new Nokia phones which will be coming out in the near future. While these were still prototypes they gave me a very good indication what to expect from the end product.

Both the N95 and N81 come with a built in 8GB of RAM already inside the phone. What this means is that they do not have memory card extension slots (though I'm not sure if I'd really need on having 8GB to work with). They both offer the latest version of the S60 3rd series OS, with Ngage functionality, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth 2.1. The N95 still has the 5MB Carl Zeiss camera while the N81 has the much smaller 2MB standard camera. Both look good though I wasn't very impressed with the thickness of the N81, it was nearly as thick as the N95 (which is a more powerful device). Both phones offer standard mini audio jacks (take note iPhone) and while the N95 continues to have a standard size USB port at the bottom, the N81 now uses the mini-usb port instead (the idea is that Nokia would like to see the mini-usb port become the standard in all future phones, an idea I don't particularly like).

Then there was the E51. This is the direct replacement to the E50 which was a good phone. The list of improvements though... was very impressive. The E51 now offers 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, a much cleaner display, and much faster performance, all in a very slim package. The 2MB camera is standard and more than enough for most business users. I loved the form factor and thought it was a very impressive update. The menu response was now on par with the N95 and N81 as was the list of features. It does come with the standard MicroSD memory card slot (just like the E50 did) and now even a standard USB plug (a very welcome feature). Expect this phone to be out by the end of the year.

New S60 platform to support Widgets

Nokia showed some future S60 functionality which they are currently beta testing. The core of the new features will be the ability to run Widgets on your mobile phone. The good news is that some older phone will be upgradable to the new version of S60. The new S60 3rd FP2 will allow better multi tasking by allowing easier task switching (using new tabs on top of the screen). The main screen will also be more customizable.

A demo was shown with a test installation (which looked very similar to the current style). The Widgets will be able to use Java, Ajax, and multiple APIs from web services. Here is the presentation by Nokia about the new FP2. Enjoy...

Mobile Camp London 2007 begins

Well it's been in the works for a while, and today the Mobile Camp London 2007 officially kicks off with two days of... well mobile tech discussions. Looks like a good turn out and how amazing is this... the PC to MAC ratio is probably 15 -1 (though I'm having a hard time finding another PC right now). Guess it's time to get a MAC? :-) Updates coming shortly...

 

Here is the S60 Widget Seminar which is discussing Nokia's current and future plans with open source integration of the S60 platform with Web information, APIs and user application data.

 The conference is dominated by MACs, which is interesting as most of the people here are developers. This is the future of Web 2.0 integration on a mobile platform.

The Mobile Camp has representatives from Nokia, Orange UK, and Yahoo.

 

More updates coming throughout the day...

So what does Photobucket do when their photo policy is challenged? They stick their head in the sand of course...

So a while ago I had a Photobucket account where I decided to post some "artistic" photos. Some of these photos contained nudity, some didn't, some were black and white, some were colour, but all these photos had one thing in common... they were marked "private". So what does "private" mean? Simple, it means that if anyone went to Photobucket and searched.... they could NOT see my photos. Only people that I allowed access to could see them. Ok, so let me just make this straight... these were NOT what people would consider porno pics, they did not show sexual acts, they did not show anything questionable (all subjects were adults), and they were... great shots.

So one day, I get an email from PhotoBucket telling me my account has been suspended due to a violation in their terms of use. So I respond to that email asking them for clarification as to why my account was suspended. In addition I sent them direct links to examples of PUBLIC (yes this means anyone can just do a simple search in Photobucket, as I did to prove it) showing death, murder, racial hatred, sex, nudity, and other very disturbing images. I only asked them to explain to me what I did wrong, and why wasn't I even warned that I was doing something wrong. Instead my account was locked without any explanation and that is it.

Now I understand that this is a private company and they have every right to make their own rules about anything. The only thing I would like to have is an explanation of those rules and what they consider acceptable and what not... I would hope they don't just randomly pull accounts without any sort of benchmark. Is that really too much to ask? Apparently so, as I have never gotten a response back from them. The email was very professional and courteous. There was no name calling or insulting.

It really greaves me that a company's, as popular as Photobucket, best answer would be.... nothing. It also amazes me that a law does not exist which states "You may set any rules you would like on your service, as long as you list those rules clearly."

I guess I'm just asking too much... so for now I've moved to Zooomr and have labeled the pictures "art" so far so good.

Unlocked iPhone legal? Is this the right question?

There have been a lot of posts about Apple releasing a new update that will brick (permanently) any iPhone that has been unlocked. This has come to light as it is based on an official Apple announcement and just some joker on the Internet trying to stir trouble.

I just read a great article from ZDNet which asks the real question. It makes me a bit uneasy how easy Apple can turn this situation around and make it "look" like unlocking your iPhone is illegal... it's not. In fact this ZDNet article quotes the law to prove that unlocking a phone in the US (and I think almost everywhere in the world) is completely legal. Therefor the real question (as that same article asks) isn't if an unlocked iPhone is legal (as it is) but instead if Apple can "brick" your phone because you've unlocked it. This has two very serious implications to it which lead me to believe that Apple is just bluffing and are not THAT arrogant, and in fact stupid, to pull a stunt which is guaranteed to hurt them (both image wise as well as financially).

First of all, since unlocking a phone (which incredibly includes the 8th wonder of the world aka iPhone) is completely legal, a company (even Apple) cannot deem it otherwise. I mean is Apple above the law? Can they make their own laws? That is what it looks like doesn't it? Therefore the logic is if you have done nothing illegal, you cannot be punished, especially in such a permanent way. BTW, bricking the phone would mean that it is now dead, permanently and cannot be repaired, and has to be replaced.

Secondly, let's examine a very realistic outcome of Apple bricking their iPhone. IF they release this update, and a few thousand phones can only be used as in-store non-working mockups how long will it take for a class-action to be filed... I say as long as it takes someone to put down their broken iPhone and find another phone to call an attorney. So now we get into a VERY ugly situation for Apple. It will be VERY public, and worst of all... they are in the wrong and would lose any court battle. The risk is they would be forced to replace all "bricked" iPhones, as well as possible damages... AND the most important thing that would come out of this... they would have to officially start to support "hacked" phones as EVERYONE would just say their broken phone is a direct result of Apple's "update" even if it just fell on the pavement and shattered into a hundred pieces. Apple would most likely just have to replace ANY iPhone for ANY reason or risk additional public scrutiny. This would be a very very bad situation for Apple, and one they have put themselves into... without any help from anyone else.

To Conclude I would also like to add, that while I understand that Apple has signed crazy revenue sharing deals with the Mobile Providers (sucker providers who will pay for their stupidity) I believe Apple's main market will NEVER be mobile phones. Now I know it's very dangerous to use that word... NEVER, but for Apple's sake, lets hope I am right. The mobile market is VERY competitive and if Apple is actually considering to join that party they need to realize, they will not make money there... at least not nearly as much as with iTunes. So the best thing Apple can do, I think, is to realize they need their new iPhone device to sell, and get people to use the iPod functionality of it (buying more music and videos off iTunes of course) and allow the hackers to show the device's true potential not the limited, controlled environment Apple would like to have. As the saying goes... be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Google phone... you know it's coming...

Why won't Google just finally admit this thing is real? It would REALLY piss off Jobs right now (stealing his iPhone thunder). I'd love to see that!

Holy Molly... that's a lot of data!

So this Israeli company is way too smart for its own good. When will I see this as a consumer product I wonder?

I always wanted a screen that disappeared...

This is a wonderful idea and I hope it works as well as it looks... and I figure if you have to ask how much it is... you can't afford it.

Looks like Zalman are going Audio...

Not too sure what to think about this but Zalman (yes the CPU cooler people) are going into audio. I'll give these a try but I hope they are not USB only (as I'd love to see how they sound with my MP3 player).

Zalman Dual Stereo Headphones