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No For Kno, Finally. It Was DOA Anyway.

Boomtown reports Kno, makers of the flip-open dual tablet designed for the education market is planning to sell off the hardware business, and focus on software only. Says Kara Swisher:

That’s because marketing a new and complex product like the Kno takes a lot of effort and cash, especially since it is an increasingly competitive market for mobile and portable computing products that includes Apple, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Google, Amazon, Dell and many others.

Oh, really?  I think not.  It’s not about marketing.. it’s about recognizing the product was Dead On Arrival… a ridiculously impossible design.  And no, I’m not just discovering it now, I declared in DOA when it was announced:

The Kno is Not a Tablet. It’s a Workout Device

At 5 and a half pounds it’s not exactly a lightweight tablet you would want to hold for hours…

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve » Zoli Erdos)

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No More Stinking Data Plans

samsung-galaxy-nomoredataplans-460

Image credit: ZDNet

Ok, I’ve stolen that title from Jason Perlow on ZDNet.  And I’ll steal from myself quite liberally, in just a moment.  That’s because I fully agree with Jason, who makes the point that Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab is an attractive device, but he really wants to just outright buy it, without yet another data plan contract. His logic is simple: the Samsung Tab is a supplementary device, it will not cause extra data usage.  How many times should we pay for the same thing?   And this is where I “steal” from myself:

rotaryphoneRemember this?

Yes, phones looked like that.  And there was a time when phone companies (Ma Bell) charged extra when you had more then one outlet in your home….

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve » Zoli Erdos)

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A Whiter Shade of Pale by Apple (Leaky iPhone and More)

This is the Week of Leaks: first and foremost Wikileaks, and now the iPhone Leak.  No, I’m not talking about the disappearing signal (aren’t we bored of the iPhone antenna stories yet?), this is leaking white light as reported by TheStreet.com:

Apparently, the back light from the iPhone display screen is leaking out around the edges of the glass and seeping through the back of the white phone, according to a person familiar with the manufacturing process.

So it appears Apple can’t make a white iPhone – for now.  I actually think the black one is more elegant, but of course it’s a matter of choice.  HTC can claim to be first, since their white EVO is now available – but is it really white?

Not really…this is a black phone with a white back – a rather tasteless combination, if you ask me.  If you want white, go for the true white, which is what the iPhone design is – if they can ever manufacture it.

All this white-mania makes my head spin, to the point I can’t pick to most fitting tune.  Is it:

Both recorded before many of our readers were born. Enjoy Smile

Related (?) post:

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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IPhone’s Cryptic Bars vs. Real Signal on Android

iphone 4 signal bars At one point in the iPhone antenna blunder Apple tried to hide behind smoke-screen, claiming they discovered an error in how they calculated signal strength to be translated to those ever-important bars the iPhone (and all phones) uses.  They would issue a software update, that would fix the problem – or not, as we now know, the culprit being the antenna design, not just the graphical representation.

Now there’s an entire article @ the Wall Street Journal lamenting just how meaningless these bars are, since all handset manufacturers have their own arbitrary interpretation of what is 1 bar or two .. three .. four.  In fact signal indicators vary between different models of the same manufacturer.

But why are we kept in the dark?  Why can’t we get real, standardized, comparable numbers?  Turns out we can.  Just not on the iPhone.   When I recently compared two Android phones the HTC Incredible and EVO, and two carriers, Verizon and Sprint, I did not have to resort to subjective bar settings.  That would have been comparing apples (not Apple!) and oranges.

realsignal All I had to do was download the free Real Signal app from the Android Apps Market.  This app displays the real signal in dBM, and also provides two independent bar displays  – similar to the “stock” bars on your phone, except this one can be calibrated.  For example given the poor reception in my area by any carrier, I only ever see 1-2 bars on the stock display – might as well re-calibrate the display to between –85dBM to –110dBM, which is all I can get. This way I get to compare any phones and all carriers – no more BS, no more dumb bars.

Related posts:

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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NTP is the New SCO

patent trollNTP, the shell company whose only business is to extract ransom from real businesses does not sit on the $600 they extorted from RIM.  They are now suing just about all the smartphone industry: Apple, Google, HTC, Microsoft, LG and Motorola.

Is NTP the new SCO?

Related posts:

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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Are You Still Using Your Real Credit Card Online? You Shouldn’t.

So iTunes got hacked and some users saw unauthorized purchases up to $600 in their accounts.

itunes hacked

I’m shocked.  Not at the fact that iTunes got hacked, but that users exposed their credit accounts to such extent.  Websites do get hacked, it’s a fact of life.  Users need to change their passwords, consider what other sites may get compromised, and generally think of getting more secure password management schemes – but it’s all too late.  Why not protect your credit card in the first place?

You don’t ever have to submit  your credit card number online.

No, I’m not saying give up the convenience of online purchases – just don’t use your real credit card number.  I haven’t, for at least a decade.  Instead I’ve always used Citbank’s Virtual Credit Card Numbers.  It allows me to generate an ad-hoc credit card number for a specific vendor, either for one-time use or for a period of time with a dollar limit.

There are many other use cases, not just theft / hacking: think of all those subscriptions you just can’t cancel… they keep on billing, and you can’t just shut down the offending vendor, your only choice is canceling the credit card itself.  A major pain.  With a virtual number you go online and remove the particular vendor’s instance.

I’ve been living in the secure world of virtual credit cards for a long time, and simply took it for granted it’s the norm by now – I’m really shocked to see now how few providers offer it.  All I could find (at least in the US) was Citi, Bank of America, Discover, and there was a half-cooked attempt by PayPal, first called virtual debit card, then secure card, but I believe it is now discontinued.

Shame on the Financial Services industry, throw-away credit cards should be the online standard in 2010.  I’m not advocating any particular service (Citi’s implementation – the software side – is outright shabby, but the safety is worth it) but it might be worth signing up for one of these services just for the sake of safe online purchases.

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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HTC EVO vs iPhone 4

You may want to start with iPhone vs HTC EVO first…

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iPhone 4 vs HTC EVO

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iPhone iPen iPaper

What’s iPen? Not this.  What’s iPaper?  Not this (although Scribd has a strong case).

It’s AT&T taking iPhone orders on paper and pen.  In 2010.

paper order

Well, at least paper won’t leak customer data like AT&T’s systems are.

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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Best Buy Smarter than the Apple Store

apple storeThere is an App for that” – is the mantra nowadays, and I really hoped for one,  to solve the major task of telling me where I can buy an iPad.  Anywhere, in any physical store along my long drive from San Francisco to Pleasanton. In the real-time, always-on age it should not be a big deal.  But it is.

Of the two potential sources Best Buy fares better: at least they have an online inventory locator, which tells you none of the stores have it 🙁

Apple stores (the best retail experience in any industry)?  Fuhhgedaboudit.  You can order online and wait two weeks for delivery, find retail stores, even make personal shopping appointments, but the online system can’t tell you availability in the individual stores.  But the Apple site certainly looks better than Best Buys.  Design without content. 🙁

So I am back to the Stone Age method: calling stores one by one.  At least my smartphone helps with that: Google Maps pulls up the stores in the area, and I can touch to call them one by one.   All Apple stores answer with this message:

Thank you for calling the Apple Store in …..  The magical and revolutionary iPad is now available…

Except it’s not. Available.  You have to get to a live salesperson, store by store, to get that information. The welcome message is a cheery lie.   Once again, Best Buy fares better:  the welcome message apologizes that they did not receive new shipments, and all their stores are out of iPad inventory.

So that leaves me with one choice: ordering the iPad online. Which I did.  And don’t get me started on how many things went wrong during the order process…

I know, I deserve it.  After all on the long ride from Google I/O @ Moscone to Pleasanton I had two gorgeous smartphones next to me, on the passenger seat.  Both Android. 🙂

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)