Month: December 2011

Apple Wins Ban of HTC Android Devices ⇥

The patent issued in 1999 and, in general terms, covers a device that scans computer text for data, like a phone number, and turns that number into a link that the user can then select to perform an act, like calling the number.

This is a win for Apple, but a loss for consumers. Apple will probably license this patent (like they attempted to do with Samsung), but it’s unfortunate that this is a patent in the first place.

In Appearance Only ⇥

In this phenomenal rebuttal to Kurt Andersen’s Vanity Fair critique, Maria Russo makes a solid case for the further internal development of the last twenty years instead of the somewhat superficial baby boomer years.

Fortune favors the bold, in style and in artmaking as in everything else, but what looks to Andersen like the vigorous innovation of decades past was in many cases a flashy railing against convention, producing work that was equally ephemeral.

This is intellectual disarmament as its best.

Apple Moves Forward With TV Plans ⇥

Since this is in the Wall Street Journal, it’s as official as it’s going to get pre-announcement. Apparently Eddy Cue is in charge of the plans, which includes a sort of Siri cum Kinect control interface. This is the most thorough writeup of what Apple might introduce that I’ve seen so far, and the one I think is most reliable.

Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK to Not Know How the Internet Works ⇥

Joshua Kopstein in an article for Vice:

[T]o anyone of moderate intelligence that tuned in to yesterday’s Congressional mark-up of SOPA, the legislation that seeks to fundamentally change how the internet works, you kind of just looked like a bunch of jack-asses.

I didn’t tune in to the SOPA hearings yesterday for the same reason I didn’t get the urge to hit myself in the face with a fence post. From what I understand, the majority of those in attendance began their speeches with “I’m no nerd,” or “I’m not an expert,” and proceeded to ignore any expert opinions or testimony. It was a display of congratulations on each others’ ignorance, because knowing things is viewed as elitist.

Can a $100 iPad Case Improve 3G Data Power? ⇥

Jon Phillips, writing for Wired:

A company called Pong Research is spreading word of a proximity sensor inside the iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G that reduces the tablet’s 3G radio output by some 6 dBm, or about three-quarters of its total transmission strength.

Apple doesn’t mention the proximity sensor in any of its marketing materials or user manuals, and it declined to comment for this article.

So what is Pong’s stake in the game? The company specializes in third-party iPhone and iPad cases marketed as providing consumers with additional protection from the electromagnetic radiation emitted by their devices. As a side benefit, Pong’s iPad 3G case purportedly doesn’t trip the proximity sensor. Other third-party cases, Pong says, trip the sensor and leave the user with reduced 3G power.

I know what you’re thinking. I know you think that this is all a load of crap. You should read this product review. It’s amazing.

Google’s Android Update Alliance Is Already Dead ⇥

Jamie Lendino, for PC Magazine:

At the Google I/O conference in May, many Android phone vendors and U.S. wireless carriers made a long-awaited promise: From then on, any new Android phone would receive timely OS updates for at least 18 months following launch, as part of the then newly christened Google Update Alliance. […] So seven months in, we thought we’d circle back and ask all those vendors an important question: How’s it going? Here’s what they had to say—and unfortunately, it’s not at all good.

In the end, it’s the customers that lose.

RIM’s Year of Misery ⇥

Brian X. Chen has summarised RIM’s 2011. In that time, their share of the US smartphone market dropped to 10 percent, they experienced a massive service failure in October, shipped an unfinished tablet (of which they took a write-down of half a billion dollars), lost the trademark to the name of their operating system and have delayed the introduction of the devices that may have the last shred of hope of improving their situation.

Other than that…

Great Words for a Great Man ⇥

Nicholas Jackson, writing for The Atlantic:

Tonight, I have confirmed that the New York Times has stopped the presses to redraw A1. That is, the most influential newspaper in the world has put its work and printing process on hold to make room on the front page for the obituary of a single man. If that isn’t a testament to his work, I don’t know what is.

Well said.

“Thanks Again for Giving Me 5 Dollars. I Bought 3 Cokes With It.” ⇥

Hi. This is LOuie. It seriously is me. Im even going to leave the O stuipdly capatalized because who would pay an intern to do that?? Okay so you bought the thing with my fat face on it and you clicked the button that said i could email you. And i know that now you are thinking “aw shit. Why’d i let this guy into my life this way?”. Well dont worry. Because i really swear it that i wont bug you.

I used to like this guy. I do now, more, but I used to, too.

All That Work, Ruined ⇥

A ROM obtained by SamMobile, from a Samsung “insider,” shows a custom December 7th build of Android 4.0.1 for the Galaxy S II that melds relatively-unchanged TouchWiz with the revamped UI that Matias Duarte and co. have been slaving away at since 2.3.

The Joy of Real Shopping ⇥

I disagree with the assessment that one cannot browse in an online store environment, but there is something truly unique and elevated about poring over physical objects in a little boutique. There’s simply no way to feel fabric, smell scents or notice details on Amazon.

A MacBook Pro With a Retina Display ⇥

Digitimes reports that the next MacBook Pro update will include a 2,880 x 1,800 pixel display. There’s no size given, so this could be an across-the-board panel offering in 13″, 15″ and 17″ sizes. Keep in mind that Digitimes is the tech industry equivalent of the Daily Mail, and they’re often inaccurate. They cite “upstream supply sources”, but those sources were also cited for an October 2011 launch of the iPad 3.

This panel has got to do a lot of things, though. Due to the way an LCD display works, as pixel density rises, so does the amount of light required to achieve a given brightness level. Apple would like to keep the lid of their notebook as thin as possible, so any additional backlighting needs to be produced without increasing its thickness. The panel also needs to be cost-effective. Right now, there isn’t a single mass-produced panel like this, and trying to shoehorn something as new as this into a $2,000 notebook is asking a lot.

I suspect that the resolution of the standard lineup will be bumped to 1,440 x 900 px, 1,680 x 1,050 px and 1,920 x 1,200 px for the 13, 15 and 17-inch models, respectively. The high-res panel might then be a built-to-order upgrade. I, for one, look forward to seeing the possible results of such high-resolution displays across both the iPad and Apple’s notebook lineup.

M.G. Siegler notes an important point:

It’s important to note that when you typically hear about higher resolution screens, it generally means smaller elements on that screen. But if these screens are double the resolution of current models, Apple could do what they did with the iPhone (and soon iPad) screen, leaving the scale the same while greatly increasing the pixel density.

I wonder if Apple prefers the physical dimensions of the onscreen elements on the MacBook Pros, or on the Airs. The latter’s displays have slightly higher pixel density than the former’s, resulting in somewhat smaller controls.

Also, Vlad Savov over at The Verge notes that the hardware to drive such a large number of pixels already exists:

Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors have been shown to support 4k x 4k resolutions, so even without a discrete GPU Apple would be able to power the immensity of a 2,880 x 1,800 display.

I suspect that the frame rate in a graphically-demanding application might be low, but still useable.

The New Fonts in iBooks 1.5 ⇥

Really great article by Glenn Fleishman. He points out the tall x-height of Charter, but I’ve noticed that for all of the new serif faces. Cochin and Baskerville were hopeless on screen due to their relatively small x-height, making them difficult to read on both the iPad, with its lower-resolution screen, and on the iPhone, with its dimensionally smaller display.