“I Am Totally Digging Windows Phone 7.5” ⇥
Windows Phone 7.5 is gorgeous, classy, satisfying, fast and coherent. The design is intelligent, clean and uncluttered.
Except for the name, this is once again my favourite non-iOS choice.
Day: 26 October 2011
Google Pushes Chrome 15 ⇥
Remember when version numbers used to have some sense of meaning?
RIM Delays PlayBook Update ⇥
Research In Motion Ltd. has delayed the launch of an updated operating system for its PlayBook tablet until February 2012, […] Many have been looking forward to the updated PlayBook OS 2.0 because it was expected to include the native e-mail application and other features that were notably missing when the PlayBook launched
It’s just one thing after another for RIM. Their stocks have dropped over 60% since the beginning of the year.
RIM said that not only will the updated OS not be released until early next year, but the update will not even include one of RIM’s signature products: BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM.
Seriously?
RIM Faces Lawsuit Over BlackBerry Outage ⇥
The Globe and Mail:
Based on his data plan, which costs $25 a month, the lawsuit claims he is individually owed $1.25 for the one-and-a-half days he did not have service. Potentially hundreds of thousands of others are owed similar amounts across Canada, the lawsuit claims.
On the one hand, suing for $1.25 apiece in a potential class lawsuit seems frivolous. On the other, there’s no way he could ask for more unless he could prove the outage caused a loss of a certain monetary amount.
At this point, a keen observer would note that routing all cellular services through a third party has significant downsides.
Mike Elgan: Idiot ⇥
Ben Brooks points out that Mike Elgan thinks “the iPhone 4S kind of sucks”, but that Elgan fails to come up with valid reasons why.
Ben Brooks: smart cookie.
Mango Tango Skype Hype ⇥
No seriously, Microsoft’s purchase of Skype seems to have evolved into a video calling product dubbed “Tango”, incorporated into Mango. In a glaring oversight, the Lumina 800 (dubbed “the first real Windows phone” by Nokia) does not have a front-facing camera.
Nokia Announces the Lumia 800 ⇥
This is one incredible looking phone. I’m a massive fan of Windows Phone 7 and Nokia’s industrial design. To see them together is an exercise in minimalist beauty. I do have complaints, naturally: the use of plastic instead of anodized aluminum makes sense from a reception point of view, but it doesn’t feel as nice. Also, the Nokia logo silkscreened on the front is distracting and unnecessary.
Those minor quibbles aside, if you’re looking for a smartphone that isn’t an iPhone, take a look at one of these.