Phone, Tablet and Gizmo Thread #0x02

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 22 Mar 2013 14:31

vina wrote:
anmol wrote:ChromeOS WILL take off. Just add the 600,000 Android app in existing ChromeOS.. and they have native apps. Many of the apps on tablets & phones are so good that it makes sense to use those on SmartTV, Desktop and Notebooks.
Chrome OS aint going anywhere. It is a dead duck. And no, adding 6000000000000 Android apps into it aint going to save it either. Linux has more than the 60000000000 apps anyway and look where linux desktop went.

Android already have more "apps" than Linux... debian have like ~35000(not sure this is the exact figure) packages and too much of that cannot be considered "App". Even the portion that can be considered "App", huge portion is without GUI. So if we would combine all the command line apps... and their front ends written with different toolkit we are looking at at max ~10,000 "apps".

Most of those apps would not work well with touch... but those 600,000 android apps would work well with touch and large portion would also work well with mice+keyboard.

So ChromeOS have LOT more going for it than even UBuntu.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 22 Mar 2013 14:39

linux desktop is going fine.....been using it full time now , even at office. Scanner, printer , everything works out of the box, no need for drivers. even my wireless card works

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 22 Mar 2013 15:37

krishnan wrote:linux desktop is going fine.....been using it full time now , even at office. Scanner, printer , everything works out of the box, no need for drivers. even my wireless card works

Linux is working fine in ChromeOS, Android, almost every router server.... but Desktop GNU Linux is not doing fine.

Some times one gets lucky and everything works out of box, other times we have to scan wikis-manuals and hunt for driver and firmwares for everything.. audio-wifi-video-printer etc. 1-2% are willing to do that, rest are more than happy with paying for Windows and OSX.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 22 Mar 2013 16:20

pandyan wrote:Sounds like HTC One is the new-best-ever-android phone now.

very good reviews so far.
the-htc-one-a-remarkable-device-anands-mini-review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6851/the- ... ini-review

Analyse this photus comparison
http://asia.cnet.com/camera-shootout-ht ... 220897.htm

Android ? Probably all platforms.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Mar 2013 19:31

the initial part of this CG is very nice...dark rainy day on the high seas, bandits crawling all over, pilot goes out on deck for alert takeoff....and DDGs sailing with the carrier firing missiles into the cloudy sky....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk6qa2ms9u8

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 22 Mar 2013 20:59

^^^Probably not. Technology is rarely (if ever) the main factor which determines the sales of a CE device.

disha · Post by **disha** » 22 Mar 2013 21:11

What about BB Z10 with QNX OS? Has anybody tried that?

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 22 Mar 2013 22:15

Stop the presses. Apple has just emailed me the muh thod jawab for why iPhunwa is the bestest phone onlee: they have won the J D Powers customers satisfaction award for the ninth time in a row onlee. All you BiBi / Sammy / HTC fans, shiver in your dhotis, drop your existing phones and please to head to nearest Apple store onlee.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 22 Mar 2013 22:40

HTC's naming convention is weird. Last year's GSIII competitor was also named HTC One IIRC. In massa, depending on your carrier, you got One X, One S, etc. And now their latest phone is also HTC One?

RB mullah is right. Just because HTC One is awesome tech-wise doesn't mean it'll sell. Last year's HTC One X wasn't a slouch either. It had a much better display than the GSIII and similar performance with the only drawback being the lack of a Micro SD card. It was also better built. But the GSIII still hugely outsold it. And while Samsung users might consider migrating after seeing the HTC One, there is no way iPhunwa users will go for it unless Appil buys HTC and puts a half-eaten fruit logo on it.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 22 Mar 2013 22:49

Surprisingly I have been noticing GB Lumia 920/820s in people's hands in the Bay Area (esp. amongst wimmens for some reason). Earlier it would be a sea of iPhones with some Android. Now its a sea of iPhones (mostly 4/4S) with quite a bit of Android (mostly GSx/Notex) and a sprinkling of Lumias. GB seems to be following the schedule it originally gave for its recovery but the market may not be that patient or forgiving considering they are in a do-or-die mode.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 22 Mar 2013 22:50

Suraj wrote:Stop the presses. Apple has just emailed me the muh thod jawab for why iPhunwa is the bestest phone onlee: they have won the J D Powers customers satisfaction award for the ninth time in a row onlee. All you BiBi / Sammy / HTC fans, shiver in your dhotis, drop your existing phones and please to head to nearest Apple store onlee.

You didn't read the one about "Only the iPhone has the Retina Display"? Fanbois might be distressed to know that this statement is the equivalent of "Only the iPhone has a lower res display"!

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 22 Mar 2013 22:51

Raja Bose wrote:^^^Probably not. Technology is rarely (if ever) the main factor which determines the sales of a CE device.

It is a combination of h/w , s/w updates (which HTC does very poorly even compared to Sammy), and kast-maar support. And most of course is marketing. In all of these AAPL still wins.

The HTC One has lack of expandable storage, HTC's reputation of poor batter life, lack of timely updates, and limited availability will hurt it significantly. Sammy has become much better about s/w updates, good battery life and world wide availability. Additionally, Sammy offers better price incentives as well. The S4 will become available in desh at end of April for about RS. 40K unlocked. Who know if and when the HTC One will be available world wide.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 22 Mar 2013 22:52

Raja Bose wrote:
Suraj wrote:Stop the presses. Apple has just emailed me the muh thod jawab for why iPhunwa is the bestest phone onlee: they have won the J D Powers customers satisfaction award for the ninth time in a row onlee. All you BiBi / Sammy / HTC fans, shiver in your dhotis, drop your existing phones and please to head to nearest Apple store onlee.
You didn't read the one about "Only the iPhone has the Retina Display"? Fanbois might be distressed to know that this statement is the equivalent of "Only the iPhone has a lower res display"!

I got one too this morning, but the ad doesn't mention Retina Display.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 22 Mar 2013 23:33

Sammy has become much better about s/w updates,

The GSIII still runs on 4.1.1 in massa. I'll concede that their releases are not buggy or laggy compared to vanilla Android anymore. I don't know if HTC releases have such issues.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 22 Mar 2013 23:46

The HTC One X doesn't even have 4.1 yet and the HTC One will not ship with 4.2. Sammy has said that when KLP comes out after Google I/O in May, they will upgrade the S4 immediately.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 22 Mar 2013 23:52

Raja Bose wrote:You didn't read the one about "Only the iPhone has the Retina Display"? Fanbois might be distressed to know that this statement is the equivalent of "Only the iPhone has a lower res display"!

Apple marketing is circling the drain already. From the halo days of the Mahdi era to MBAgiri. The fall has been swift. Not saying they were honest then, but they had Mahdi's reality distortion field then. Now they have a bunch of suits selling snake oil.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 23 Mar 2013 00:09

Suraj wrote: Apple marketing is circling the drain already. From the halo days of the Mahdi era to MBAgiri. The fall has been swift. Not saying they were honest then, but they had Mahdi's reality distortion field then. Now they have a bunch of suits selling snake oil.

They sold some snake oil during Mahdi's time as well. Remember their explanation during Antennagate that the "formula used for calculating number of bars shown was wrong"?

Of course, back then all it took was a darshan from the Mahdi to set things right.

Maybe they should use the Musion Eyeliner system to show 3D image of Mahdi to bless the disciples. If it brought back Tupac, it can bring back the Mahdi as well.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 23 Mar 2013 00:31

That's what I said onlee. Mahdi could sell iTurd to the faithfools. The current MBAs running the iMarketing asylum are no Mahdi...

At least in the past their emails were an example of positive atmospherics. Now they resort to 'buy iPhunwa because someone patted us on our head!'

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 Mar 2013 02:39

Mort Walker wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:
You didn't read the one about "Only the iPhone has the Retina Display"? Fanbois might be distressed to know that this statement is the equivalent of "Only the iPhone has a lower res display"!

I got one too this morning, but the ad doesn't mention Retina Display.

I meant their website which has the full set of "Why you should buy Iphunwa" promo: http://www.apple.com/iphone/why-iphone/#retina

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 Mar 2013 02:44

Nokia CEO throws an iPhone on Finnish TV

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 23 Mar 2013 03:59

sounds like there are no iHeads to iTake on iFuture after iMahdi took away the inner 'i' of innovation.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 23 Mar 2013 06:34

What is lacking in a cell phone camera that is present in a point and shoot? I can think of optical zoom and flash. Even among the point and shoot, the smaller and slimmer models do not have a good enough flash to be of much use beyond a couple of meters. GB has a solution for optical zoom in its loss less digital zoom (nokia 808) and OIS for low light photography (lumia 920). If anyone can combine both the solutions into a single device, then it might be an effective replacement for P&S cameras. With OIS, you also get the ability to take smooth videos without shake. Give it a couple more years, and point and shoot will be truly out.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2013 06:46

Nokia 920 retails for around 35000 in india. Its way too expensive for volumes. A equivalent ps camera can be had for 6000 or at most 10000.

So bundling a good camera with a uber expensive phone that only americans on contract can afford is not a replacement for ps cameras in most of the world.

If the same tech makes it to lumia 520 then yes. Nok needs to stop wasting cycles on the 920 in most of the world and focusmon making the 520 and 620 best of breed at their price points. Thats where samsung dominates with its tiered range of galaxy phones.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 Mar 2013 06:52

The Lumia 928 is supposedly coming with a xenon flash along with the PureView camera from the Lumia 920. The 808's oversampling takniki which ensures 'lossless' zoom works quite well esp when compared to P&S with upto 3x optical zoom. I had posted a close up photu of a tiny SU-30MK-1 model (~length of my middle finger) shot using the 808 in camera dhaaga many moons ago (no post processing, or any special rig/lighting - in fact it was shot under a flickering tubelight).

---

Singha saar, in India I see most people whipping out their el-cheapo GB dumbphones to take pics - after all, its all about capturing the moment nowadays. The 520/620 cameras are way better than those phunwa's cameras. GB actually should give a bigger push in the higher tiers - their volumes may be low but the ASP is high and does result in higher RoI. Traditionally GB has focused mostly on the low-end onlee prior to 2010 and that has cost them dear.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 23 Mar 2013 07:07

From GB's POV, the margins are in the higher end devices. I hope they have a big enough battery to go with the Xenon flash for 928

What I see is only GB pushing the envelope as far as cell phones are concerned. Of course that is no guarantee for success.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2013 09:32

their ad in india featuring a group of trendy young people is certainly cutting no ice in terms of explaining the superiority of their product whether in specs , useability, apps or toughness. shows some photos of a pudgy drooping guy being manipulated by his friends later....vague.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 23 Mar 2013 11:31

^^^That has been the complaint against GB even in the US. I think they cannot afford to spend a lot on advertising.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 Mar 2013 12:14

Mickey is supposed to step in for GB's advertising in the future.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Mar 2013 17:50

off colour comments in a SJC python conference leads to two dismissals....

http://www.firstpost.com/tech/female-te ... 72736.html

James B · Post by **James B** » 23 Mar 2013 19:07

Canon announces EOS Rebel SL1, world's smallest and lightest DSLR camera

Canon Thursday announced EOS Rebel SL1, the world's smallest and lightest DSLR camera. The Canon EOS Rebel SL1 features an 18.0-megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor and DIGIC 5 Image Processor in a body that measures 4.6" (w) x 3.57" (h) x 2.74" (d) and weighs only 407 grams.

As mentioned earlier, the EOS Rebel SL1 features an 18-megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor with an ISO range of 100-12800 (expandable to H: 25600) for photos and ISO-6400 (expandable to H: 12800) for video. The camera includes a new nine-point centre cross-type autofocus (AF) and a new Hybrid CMOS AF II sensor, which provides a wider focus area when shooting photos or video in Live View mode, and a continuous AF speed that's increased from previous EOS models. The camera is capable of shooting speed up to four frames per second (fps).

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 23 Mar 2013 19:07

Indian market is not suited for making the max bang out of the offer. The market is set to chew max out of the available options. Contractual obligations in massan offers cheap or $0 phones of iphone/lumia quality that is one year old in design/technology. This is not the case in desh., and thus a market where it only aids the rich, and not capturing the up coming middle class which needs to suck up slowly rather this big bang making money business. Well desh is more of such people, where all they are interested is making money, building a home or apt, and forgedabout innovation, market, or producing for the future. what do you expect from such culture.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 23 Mar 2013 19:39

Marten wrote:Wtf? Why fire her? An apology doesn't cure other men of sexism, name and shame does!

Sexism ? How is that... two guys are joking with each other and lady is eavesdropping and gets offended by the joke..

here is that guy who got fired explaining what that joke was about :-

Hi, I'm the guy who made a comment about big dongles. First of all I'd like to say I'm sorry. I really did not mean to offend anyone and I really do regret the comment and how it made Adria feel. She had every right to report me to staff, and I defend her position. However, there is another side to this story. While I did make a big dongle joke about a fictional piece hardware that identified as male, no sexual jokes were made about forking. My friends and I had decided forking someone's repo is a new form of flattery (the highest form being implementation) and we were excited about one of the presenters projects; a friend said "I would fork that guys repo" The sexual context was applied by Adria, and not us.

My second comment is this, Adria has an audience and is a successful person of the media. Just check out her web page linked in her twitter account, her hard work and social activism speaks for itself. With that great power and reach comes responsibility. As a result of the picture she took I was let go from my job today. Which sucks because I have 3 kids and I really liked that job.

She gave me no warning, she smiled while she snapped the pic and sealed my fate. Let this serve as a message to everyone, our actions and words, big or small, can have a serious impact.

I will be at pycon 2014, I will joke and socialize with everyone but I will also be mindful of my audience, accidental or otherwise.

Again, I apologize.

So HOW is that sexist ? How is that supposed to offend/hurt that lady ? Also Adria have done this kind of thing in past. Read this: https://amandablumwords.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/3/

She was fired because a) Karma b) DDoS c) She is no longer fit to do her job. d) Probably her own joke that makes her BIG hypocrite:-

skwashd you should put something in your pants next time…like a bunch of socks inside one…large…sock.TSA agent faint
— Adria Richards (adriarichards) March 14, 2013

If that guy deserves to get fired for that stupid joke.. she too should get fired for that joke above. I am sorry for being pedantic but notice how her joke is aimed directly at a human of opposite sex.. whereas dude she got fired joked about some Repo and piece of hardware.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 Mar 2013 21:55

Marten wrote:Wtf? Why fire her? An apology doesn't cure other men of sexism, name and shame does!

In this case there was fault on both sides including Adria. Adria is known to carry a big feminist chip on her shoulder and is not above making snide/crude remarks at others. But none of the parties involved probably realized the snowball effect this would have.

Her TSA joke reminds me of the Feynmann incident with feminists.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 23 Mar 2013 22:14

vina wrote:
anmol wrote:ChromeOS WILL take off. Just add the 600,000 Android app in existing ChromeOS.. and they have native apps. Many of the apps on tablets & phones are so good that it makes sense to use those on SmartTV, Desktop and Notebooks.
Chrome OS aint going anywhere. It is a dead duck. And no, adding 6000000000000 Android apps into it aint going to save it either. Linux has more than the 60000000000 apps anyway and look where linux desktop went.

I dont have a horse in the race, but I am curious to know why you think that? Is it because you think Windows/Mac is too entrenched in the Laptop space?

Well, if you see, iPad, tablets and mobile devices have put a dent in the laptop market. Various phones and tables started with an app ecosystem of zero and are now a credible competitor to PCs and Laptops (there was a survey that showed that most young people's first computers are their mobile phones now!). The reason is not because that they do everything a laptop can, but because they can do most things that users want while offering other benefits. So if you think of the PC revolution, tablets and phones are to PCs what PCs were to Mainframes!

Is it because you think that browser is a bad way to deliver apps and services? The usual stick people use to beat ChromeOS is that it cannot run photoshop. I have three opinions about that. (a) It doesnt run photoshop now. Might in the future, given Mozilla's efforts like OdinMonkey and asm.js. In any case, I have used pixlr and it is a credible replacement for gimp! (b) It is akin to arguing that instagram is no substitute for photoshop. It is true. But how many people use instagram and how many use DLSRs and photoshop hainji? The ratio should be 10:1 if not worse. (c) iPads and mobile phones dont run photoshop either, and they are punching laptop sales in the face.

The same Chromebook vs Conventional OS debate was played out in "Cloud vs Native app" debate and "Tablets vs Laptop" debate. The question to ask is "Does Chromebook solve a set of problems well enough while offering other benefits". I think so due to two reasons: Increasingly when enterprise develops new (not legacy) apps, they will develop for the browser. It is a reliable way to ensure that it will run on all platforms. You can forecast this with a reasonable confidence, given the amount of investment in cloud infrastructure, tools and development effort. They will move their apps and services to the cloud for interoperability. Secondly, administering these machines will become increasingly easy.

For a set of enterprise/centrally administered use case. I believe that something like Chromebooks will win out. The reason are not because (a) Chromebooks are cheap (b) Chromebooks cannot run native apps (c) Other laptops cannot run browser-based apps. It is because they are easy to deploy and administer. I expect other vendors (like M$, FruitCo) to offer solutions like Chromebooks (lockdown on locally installed apps and a browser to access cloud apps only). Then the competition will become real interesting.

You might find this interesting: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerkay/20 ... aking-off/

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 23 Mar 2013 22:30

Raja Bose wrote: In this case there was fault on both sides including Adria. Adria is known to carry a big feminist chip on her shoulder and is not above making snide/crude remarks at others. But none of the parties involved probably realized the snowball effect this would have.

Her TSA joke reminds me of the Feynmann incident with feminists.

If she tweets about it, how can she expect that this wont have a snowball effect? Remember the Reddit/Jailbait guy? A pretty normal fellow, who wasnt doing anything illegal, was the target of the moral police and lost his job (he was a programmer) and cant find one now! Most small companies dont want the negative publicity associated with such kerfuffle and would rather fire their employees.

Firstly, Are now people going to police what people talk among themselves? Is every one of our private jokes going to be vetted for political correctness? Secondly, she could have turned back, looked at them and said "I hope you keep your offensive jokes to yourself" the fellows would have been shamed and apologized. Thirdly, I wonder why sex jokes are somehow degrading to women. Is it because somehow only men have sex? Or is it because women are so pure and fragile that they should be protected? Or is it because somehow sex is degrading to women?

Before people get outraged about "forking" and "dongles", they need to consider terms like "Master-slave controllers", "Male type and female type connectors", "Ethernet in promiscuous mode", (the politically incorrect things that I could come up in 30 seconds and I am sure there are more). Heck! even quantum mechanics calls this symbol <| as a "bra".

That lady boasted about her "Joan of Arc" moment. As though she had done something profound for women in tech and computers. Now read this article and facepalm: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-2 ... rings.html

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 23 Mar 2013 22:52

Intel NUC review

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/23/inte ... ngadget%29

You have to give it to the FruitCo. They are the ones who set the trend with Mac Mini (and not everyone wants to make one), with Macbook Air (ultrabooks have ditched the DVD drive, have the same teardrop shape and have SSDs), with iPhunwa and iPadwa, and all in one iMacs (still the most elegant looking desktop). Laptops now have glass trackpads with no buttons (even Lenovo got rid of buttons on trackpad), and chicklet keyboards.

Lets see how many trends FruitCo under bawarchi sets.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 23 Mar 2013 23:04

Anujan wrote:Thirdly, I wonder why sex jokes are somehow degrading to women. Is it because somehow only men have sex? Or is it because women are so pure and fragile that they should be protected? Or is it because somehow sex is degrading to women?

^ THIS. It was Sex joke not Sexist joke.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 23 Mar 2013 23:08

Raja Bose wrote:Surprisingly I have been noticing GB Lumia 920/820s in people's hands in the Bay Area (esp. amongst wimmens for some reason). Earlier it would be a sea of iPhones with some Android. Now its a sea of iPhones (mostly 4/4S) with quite a bit of Android (mostly GSx/Notex) and a sprinkling of Lumias. GB seems to be following the schedule it originally gave for its recovery but the market may not be that patient or forgiving considering they are in a do-or-die mode.

RB Mullah...while I'm a GB fan and love the LUMIA 800 (not withstanding your contempt for the same

and shitty camera

), the new LUMIA seems to have the oomph! factor which drives the Apple buyer. If you remember, I had written of my experience with a yuppy crownd (typical card carrying apple fans) going ga-ga over the design.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 23 Mar 2013 23:20

Michael Dell's buyout plans reportedly challenged by two rival bids

By Aaron Souppouris on March 23, 2013 12:22 pm

Bloomberg is reporting that Blackstone Group has submitted a preliminary offer to buy Dell. Citing a "person familiar with the matter," the publication says the bid commits Blackstone to hold takeover discussions with the Texas computer giant. Company founder Michael Dell is currently attempting to gain shareholder approval for a deal that would see him take Dell off the market and back into private hands. Michael Dell's $24.4 billion privatization plan involves a large personal investment, as well as cash from equity firms and a $2 billion Microsoft loan.

Since the deal was made public, detractors have said that the $24.4 billion valuation of the company is too low, and major investors have signalled their intent to vote against the offer. Business magnate Carl Icahn, who reportedly owns a six percent share in the company, is rumored to be planning a rival bid of his own. Bloomberg's anonymous source says Dell has until Tuesday to respond to Blackstone's preliminary offer.

Update: It looks as though Dell will be the subject of an intense bidding war. The Wall Street Journal reports that both Blackstone and Icahn have notified the Dell board that they are "working on firm bids" for the company, with the bids expected to be made by Tuesday.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 23 Mar 2013 23:44

Aaaand 7 Billion later:

Xbox Does Not Infringe on Motorola Patents, ITC Judge Rules

Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility has yet to pay off for the firm

An International Trade Commission judge on Friday issued a preliminary decision in a patent battle involving Motorola Mobility, now part of Google, and Microsoft. According to administrative law judge David P. Shaw, Microsoft’s Xbox video game console does not infringe on a Motorola patent. And he recommends that the ITC dismiss the case.

Google, which purchased Motorola Mobility almost solely for its patent portfolio, had been seeking to ban the sale of the Xbox in the United States had the console been found to be infringing.

“We are pleased with the Administrative Law Judge’s finding that Microsoft did not violate Motorola’s patent and are confident that this determination will be affirmed by the Commission,” Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy general counsel David Howard said.

“We are disappointed with today’s determination and look forward to the full Commission’s review,” a Google spokesperson added.

Motorola Mobility sued Microsoft for patent infringement in November 2010 after Microsoft had attempted to get the firm to pay patent licenses for infringing technology in Android, failed, and then sued Motorola. The Motorola case against Microsoft originally included five patents, but it’s been whittled down over time. Two video-related charges were dropped in the wake of a Google agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding standard-essential patents. And two of the patents are expiring this year.

A final determination is expected in late July. But Motorola/Google and Microsoft still face other related patent battles in the U.S. and Europe; the ITC oversees international trade issues only.