Posts by Eddy Ito

Only the Galaxy S

If you look at the other phones, the Prevail and Epic 4G don't have the single button and given the Epic has rounded ends and a slider keyboard it would be difficult for Apple to say that was a copy. Basically that leaves the 4.1 million Galaxy S models and of those you can quickly rule out any Verizon sales prior to February 2011 and Sprint sales before nearly the end of 2011 and T-mob isn't selling it yet and probably won't until it works better than 2G on their network.

Let's be honest, nearly all of the early advertising for the iPhone stressed that it was only available on AT&T so it seems improbable that Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile customers would be confused unless the salesperson actually lied and said "yes, this is an iPhone". I can pert near guarantee that anybody who bought their phones online have no reason to be confused because their shopping cart would say quite clearly "Samsung" and not "iPhone" just like their confirmation email would.

It's equally clear that once Apple gave up its one carrier strategy sales of the iPhone exploded. At best Apple can hope for only a minimal cash win because for the majority of the time Samsung wasn't even directly competing with Apple because Apple itself had opted out of a substantial fraction of the market. Frankly, I hope Apple lose the case because of the decision to strong arm the carriers into meeting their demands as that is what I believe this case is all about. The carriers, evil sods in their own right, aren't quite so afraid of Apple walking out on them because they now know that Apple would have to give up a huge pile-o-cash. It stands to reason that if Apple can take out some phone maker competition, they might get more pull with the carriers.

Unofficial tyre?

I'd wager it was the wheel and they had to reprogram the TPMS. Then again, all new cars have this and not just BMWs, in the US at least. That said, it really is a bug up my backside that the equipment to reprogram the car to a new sensor is so expensive. The only good thing is I don't figure it will be long before the codes are cracked for most cars and some open source kit starts popping up. It really is something that shouldn't be much harder than setting the presets on the radio since it really is just setting the presets on the TPMS radio. While they are at it, put a "yes, I know" button that lets you turn off the light when you start the car after changing the flat.

Easy

If the next one were to be called YBox then folks would wonder...

Re: What are they smoking?

Don't forget the most important technological improvement, batteries and chips, more specifically the price and capacity of rechargeable batteries and the performance per watt of processors. The old Palms of yore didn't run a 16 MHz 68k with, IIRC, 1 whole MB ram for the original Pilot Pro. Damn, I really miss that old thing. I going to have to pick some weekend and rifle sort through the boxes in the garage over a beer or three just to see if it got saved for posterity.

Re: Anyone noticed...

Yeah, the EXIF data has been significantly altered, unless he managed to mount a Panasonic u4/3 lens on an Olympus ultrazoom compact.

To be fair

the exif data on the pic says it was taken with an Olympus SP570UZ which is a compact 20x zoom camera but also indicates it had a fixed focus Panasonic Lumix lens. It isn't just the date that's wrong, someone has been playing with the exif data.

"... herd cats and toddlers at the same time."

You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to use the toddlers like sheepdogs and have them herd the cats. Even though the toddlers are just a bit slow, if you have enough of them you can get all the cats in a tight bunch under the sofa and all the toddlers peering under in fairly short order.

Re: I completely agree, US Politicians are no better than two year olds that need a spanking

Sadly asdf, you seem to believe the bill in question is more important than rearranging those deck chairs. Let me give you a quick lesson on US politics; if any group of politicians from either side says a bill is urgent, necessary and absolutely has to be passed now to save us from some total suffering and pain it means the bill is so bad it should be burned or rewritten from scratch. Remember the whole point of making it "critical" is to slide it past everyone before too many people find out what's really in it.

Re: Android is a ghetto

Except it isn't just Android, most devs, especially those doing games, aren't making much money on any platform and the reason is the thousands of similar apps and wading through the pit that is the app stores. Sure you can catch fish in the same hole with a million other Apple and Android hooks in the water but it might be easier going to have a small pond practically all to yourself.

Re: why the state?

Actually the state doesn't pay for the court system. Aside from the court fees required from the litigants it is paid for by the taxpayers.

Re: Playbook - @AC's daily commute...

You must commute with the rich hipster kids. On my commute, most don't have an iPad and I've only actually seen one. Lots of clever phones, actual books and newspapers along with a few kindles and laptops but not many tablets at all.

Re: Other dimensions

The graphic in this article is a link to the techin5 piece. There is has the other two at 262.6 x 164.

Re: Metalwork class

@Dan 10

Like the majority of equipment the cost of the kit isn't going to be the expensive part. If you try doing any sort of volume production you'll find the running costs far outweigh the price of the machine. Just like a regular 2D printer the annual supplies and utility costs is going to dwarf that £3k and I can guarantee you that machine doesn't have anywhere near the accuracy needed to build parts requiring even moderate tolerances. Also don't forget that most firearms manufacturers are making guns with a variety of plastic parts including frames but none of them use a 3D printer for production, even though they likely have one for prototype work, because the cost is prohibitive. Recycling plastic helps a little but it still needs to be fairly high purity stock with a consistent melt temperature to get decent structural properties out of it.

If someone wants an AR-15 there are easier ways to get one. Granted, it might be wise to get rid of it fairly quickly to keep from being caught.

Re: they're more protective of their IP than LOCOG and the IOC.

To add a minor point, I don't believe Anonymous makes a whole bunch of cash off the logo so in addition to kicking everyone else out of the park they also aren't turning the park into a factory.

Re: Universal search field

I expect Google Search will be following closely behind Google Maps as it seems likely Apple will be switching their default search as soon as any contract they might have expires.

Hmm, I wonder if working a deal with the ex-GooGirl over at Bing powered Yahoo! Search wouldn't be a nice stick with which Apple's can poke the boys over at Mountain View. Why I can almost hear Merissa now; "I am Mountain Lion, hear me ROAR! MEW! [mumbles to self] Damn, why did they have to pick a Felinae?"

Re: Agreed

@Dave 126

Funny thing though, as the parents were convicted felons his mother had the gun illegally so actually the country doesn't allow firearms for 'home defence' in this particular case. Also, can you conclusively show that "far more family members are harmed by said guns than intruders are" or is that just bog standard drivel you read somewhere that would also apply to anything else in the home like kitchen knives, hatchets, hammers, swimming pools, automobiles, etc. Let's not forget the other two suicide favorites in the U.S. like poison and a means of suffocation. Hmmm, maybe that's why so many places are banning plastic bags at the grocer.

That said, I can only hope she gets prosecuted by the feds in addition to the state and I hope the state's charges stick. Perhaps a nice break from a free and public lifestyle will allow her to gain perspective and perhaps understand why it was illegal for her to have a firearm in the first place.

Re: Did you stretch the Ultrabook photo horizontally...

I recall the discussion of it being a stock photo also. I still find it odd neither company could find a real person to actually hold one or even a mockup. Do hand models and photographers really charge so much money or is it just so much easier to hire a kid with photoshop?

Re: optionally

The politicians only look like that because they had to fight the lawyers to get to the bottom.

Now then about those jellyfish, sliced thin a little vinegar, chili pepper and perhaps a bit of cucumber... so when do we dine they get here.