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Google Chrome 4: Yes, it's fast, but is it usable?
As Betanews readers have responded to our stories about Chrome's JavaScript superiority...Does that mean we'd actually use this browser? Well...
Verizon Wireless launches new Android, Chocolate, and ruggedized phones
The lower-priced Eris joins the Droid, while the Chocolate gets a touchscreen and more music playback.
Early sales figures for Windows 7 nicely high, but do we know why?
Fans of triple-digit surges in figures quoted by Betanews will love this one, as it appears Microsoft rediscovered how to pull off a software launch.
Myka announces its latest Linux-based 'net top box'
Myka's ION brings Boxee, XMBC, and much more to HDTVs.
What hath Mac wrought? A remembrance after a quarter-century
The reason there's a Macintosh today is not because of some brilliant flash of engineering genius, but because Apple had the audacity to learn from its mistakes.
Early build of Moblin 2.1 improves connectivity, but not device support
The Linux Foundation's Atom-centric OS yesterday received a major overhaul with the project release of Moblin 2.1 for netbooks and nettops.
The iPhone's China syndrome: Sales of 5,000 and climbing
There's actually a country where Apple's device is not a godsend, where sales can be measured in the dozens.
New European counterpart to FCC will ensure 'a more neutral net'
Late Thursday night, the ruling telecom administrators of the EU's member nations signed away their final authority to a new entity overseen by the EC.
Sophos study suggests Windows 7 UAC's default setting is self-defeating
Without any anti-virus installed, a Sophos test showed, User Account Control was only capable of thwarting just one malware package out of ten samples chosen.
Indiscreet tweet trips awareness of Web SSL vulnerability
A group of high-level security engineers had been making progress on thwarting a low-level threat to the Web, until somebody blurted it all out on Twitter.
How RIM can avoid a premature endgame for BlackBerry
By Carmi Levy on November 5, 2009, 12:23 PM
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Once not so long ago, if you wanted bulletproof e-mail on a mobile device, you bought a BlackBerry. Research In Motion, the company that practically defined wireless messaging a decade ago, has done quite nicely for itself since then, garnering over 56% of the market for smartphones in the US and about 20% of the overall wireless handset market that includes smartphones as well as conventional feature phones. Its end-to-end encryption and still-unique service paradigm that routes messaging traffic through secure Network Operations Centers further endeared the platform to enterprise buyers, even as the company was successfully pushing the franchise into the consumer space.
Unfortunately for RIM, nothing stays the same in the increasingly competitive wireless market. The BlackBerry is no longer a market of one, and many of the features that defined the platform -- including push e-mail and enterprise-class security -- are no longer unique. Worse, the critical feature set for a modern smartphone has expanded to include rich Web access, broad application availability, and an integrated, Web services-aware operating system. It's no secret that the BlackBerry platform lags in all of these areas with its fine-for-the-1990s browser, relatively paltry app ecosystem, and an OS that despite regular incremental updates still betrays its decade-old roots.
Continue reading How RIM can avoid a premature endgame for BlackBerry...
Antisocial media: Lack of safeguards is killing the experience
By Carmi Levy on November 2, 2009, 10:35 AM
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Say it with me, everyone: Facebook sucks.
I don't mean that in a literal sense, of course. But the growing number of obviously hacked status updates and phishing-like scams coming from folks we all thought were our friends has me wondering if Facebook is having more than a little trouble keeping a lid on the kinds of nasties that have already ruined e-mail, Usenet, and while we're at it, the Web in general.
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Non-exclusive iPhones: Has Verizon waited too long?
By Carmi Levy on October 29, 2009, 5:08 PM
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I've never been a fan of exclusive deals between handset manufacturers and wireless carriers. I understand why they appeal to the Apples and the AT&Ts of the world in the first place, but it ticks me off that sweet deals like this always seem to leave consumers out in the cold. They limit choice and competition, which tends to keep prices artificially high for longer than they should, and they make it easier for carriers to maintain the kind of old, customer-unfriendly practices that have long stained the industry.
When a given gotta-have-it device is available only through one carrier, consumers are forced to make a Hobson's Choice in that they can choose by device, or by carrier, but not both. And if they dislike the exclusive carrier for any reason, they either hold their noses and sign, or learn to live with another carrier's second-rate hardware.
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Nokia lawyers up, chooses to fight Apple in court rather than the market
By Carmi Levy on October 26, 2009, 7:16 PM
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If timing is everything in business, Nokia apparently didn't get the memo. Apple's iPhone has been on sale for about 28 months now, but only last week did Nokia file a wide-ranging lawsuit in Delaware District Court that covers no fewer than ten alleged patent infringements.
This isn't anything new in the tech industry. In a business where intellectual property accounts for a disproportionately huge slice of any given product's value proposition -- and ultimately its market success -- fights over who came up with what idea first are common. For example, Research in Motion has paid out over a billion dollars over the last three years to settle two significant patent lawsuits that, if left unresolved, could have shuttered its popular BlackBerry devices for good.
Continue reading Nokia lawyers up, chooses to fight Apple in court rather than the market...
Our love/hate relationship with Microsoft: What happens now?
By Carmi Levy on October 23, 2009, 10:04 AM
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Over the years, Microsoft has been vilified for more reasons than you can shake a memory stick at. But the world is bigger than Microsoft; and if we're going to take the time and effort to hate something, it makes more sense for it to be something deserving of hate -- like government corruption, unsanctioned access by certain countries to nuclear missiles, and diseases that evolve faster than our ability to comprehend them. Tossing bile at a mere software company would be too easy if it weren't so pointless.
As Microsoft releases Windows 7 unto a world that has been well-trained to be suspicious of such events, now is a pretty good time to reconsider why so many people have for so long held a special degree of contempt for the company. It's also an ideal time to question why this has been the case in the first place, and figure out what our attitudes should be from this point forward.
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The Windows 7 launch: The cultural event of the entire afternoon
By Carmi Levy on October 19, 2009, 5:17 PM
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Have you reserved your copy of Windows 7 yet? Did you book off work? Get a babysitter for the kids? Stock up on Red Bull and Doritos?...No? If you're one of the dozens who pine for midnight door-crasher sales at the electronics big box store and Rolling Stones-themed launch events, you may want to make alternate plans.
For anyone who doesn't live in a cave in Afghanistan (and even for a few folks who do), this week could be the most exciting one in an age as Microsoft launches its newest -- and possibly company-saving -- operating system, Windows 7, on Thursday. But 14 years after it redefined the rock-star launch party with Windows 95, and nearly four years after having invested a half-billion dollars selling us Vista, this time around, Microsoft is taking a lower-key approach.
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How do you define performance?
By Carmi Levy on October 15, 2009, 4:26 PM
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System performance is an interesting concept; everyone seems to define it differently. To some, it involves chewing through a complex spreadsheet. To others, it's how fast a 3D video sequence can be rendered, or how easily Web pages are served up.
Call me a rebel, but after years of living off of a BlackBerry, my thinking has evolved. As much as I focused on megahertz and gigahertz for much of my computing life, the most important criteria for me these days are how fast the thing turns on, and how long it stays on before I have to recharge it.
Danger signs: Now how secure does the cloud look?
By Carmi Levy on October 12, 2009, 5:57 PM
26 Comments
There are service outages, and then there are service outages. T-Mobile customers who carry the Sidekick smartphone are learning the hard way that there's a major difference between having no access to a service for a little while and losing every contact, calendar entry, and related shred of personal data they've got.
In the not too distant past, Google, Twitter, and Facebook have all experienced basic, quaintly simple service outages. Despite the headlines and general chaos associated with each incident, the bottom line impact was never all that onerous: When service returned, so did their users' data. For the most part, users were given an easy excuse to take a few hours off. And with the exception of Google's subscription services, most were free, so folks couldn't argue that they weren't getting their money's worth.
Continue reading Danger signs: Now how secure does the cloud look?...
Facing down irrelevance: What Palm can learn from RAZR
By Carmi Levy on October 8, 2009, 9:26 PM
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The half-life of any piece of modern electronics, which was once measured in years, is now barely a few months. It's no one's fault, of course, but it's a reality that vendors need to integrate into their own life cycle planning lest they get caught with the product line equivalent of grandma's wardrobe.
Simply put, the half-life of today's uber-hot phones is shrinking. Fast.
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Sitting out Google Wave
By Carmi Levy on October 5, 2009, 2:50 PM
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I've decided I won't be part of the 100,000 or so special folks who are already rolling up their sleeves and digging into the guts of Google's newest uber-desirable online application, the private beta of Google Wave. This will give some poor fellow extra opportunity to troll eBay, bidding $100 or so for an invitation.
It's not like I'm eschewing some exclusive community. Like Gmail before it, Google Wave accounts will eventually be freely available to anyone with a pulse. But unlike Gmail -- which remains in the limelight with regular updates delivered to a widespread base of users who passionately use the service -- Google Wave's lifespan likely won't be as charmed.
The virtual mega-mart: Apple's oversized App Store
By Carmi Levy on October 1, 2009, 11:13 AM
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By all definitions, Apple's iTunes App Store is a massive success, with sales numbers that would make McDonald's franchisees green with envy. Two billion applications -- half a billion in the last quarter alone -- have been downloaded since the store went live just over 14 months ago. With over 85,000 apps, it puts every mobile platform competitor to shame. The 125,000-strong iPhone Developer Program and successive evolutions of iPhone and iPod touch devices should keep driving growth for a while.
This is all obviously good for Apple, because a vibrant online App Store naturally drives demand for its high-margin hardware. And in the case of the iPhone, AT&T and other partner-carriers benefit from carrying a device whose sales are driven not only by desirable hardware, but by the ability to easily turn the device into pretty much anything the end user wants. The paltry few-thousand choices on Research In Motion's BlackBerry App World, or Palm App Catalog's even paltrier few dozen apps, end up serving as inadvertent advertisements for the iPhone.
Continue reading The virtual mega-mart: Apple's oversized App Store...
My father's laptop: A humble machine's simple lesson
By Carmi Levy on September 24, 2009, 10:46 AM
24 Comments
As laptops go, it's nothing out of the ordinary. An average brand -- Compaq -- running an average operating system -- Vista -- used for the ordinary, average sort of things, like Web browsing and messaging. With its 17-inch screen, built-in webcam, and a hard drive with enough capacity to store everything I've ever written, it's the kind of machine that pretty much defines mainstream computing.
The difference is this was my father's machine. And after getting a middle-of-the-night call yesterday from my mom saying he had passed away, just like that, it was the first thing I saw after I got to their house and walked into the living room.
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For AMD, keeping it too simple may be too stupid
By Carmi Levy on September 21, 2009, 4:59 PM
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The "Keep It Simple, Stupid" rule works in business as well as in everyday life, primarily because it forces us to focus on the one or two basic issues we need to make the right decision. My kindergarten teacher shortened it to "KISS," perhaps in the interest of simplicity. When you're driving a car: Know where you are, know where you're going. Leader of the free world: Keep your hands clean, know what you're aiming at. Reprogramming your iPod/in-vehicle audio system interface: Pull over, let the semi pass you.
More data, please
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Zune dreams: Microsoft's refusal to say die
By Carmi Levy on September 17, 2009, 1:42 PM
26 Comments
A boxing match can be a fascinating thing to watch, especially when it's between deliberately mismatched fighters who probably have no business being in the ring at the same time. But since these things are more about business than fighting, anyway, audiences are often treated to cruel spectacles of an overwhelmingly powerful athlete beating an out-of-his-league opponent to a bloody pulp.
If the poor shlub doesn't collapse in a heap or put his gloves down and head for the corner, you can always count on the ref to step in and stop the carnage. But only after the members of the audience have been satisfied that they saw what they came to see.
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Pixi dust: Is Palm doing enough to survive?
By Carmi Levy on September 14, 2009, 2:36 PM
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If you're one of those who have been waiting for a miraculous transformation at Palm, I worry you may be waiting forever. As much as I want the company to survive and thrive, to come back from a near-death experience driven by lack of compelling new products and the worst case of corporate ADHD this side of Motorola, I have a growing sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that it's just not going to happen.
This past June (ancient history in this business), I wrote about Palm's prospects as it launched its first webOS-powered smartphone, the Pre. At the time, I expressed optimism that the company had finally shaken its years-long funk to bring out a fresh, modern take on converged, wireless devices. I kept my fingers crossed that this slick new smartphone, packed full of fresh thinking, would help customers get over years of neglect and lost opportunity. Palm, after all, defined the PDA market in the late '90s, and later hit it big with one of the most successful early smartphones, the Treo. I wasn't alone in wishing it could recapture its mojo.
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The wireless carrier conundrum: Perpetuating the myth of connectivity
By Carmi Levy on September 11, 2009, 10:26 AM
18 Comments
I'd hate to be a wireless carrier. Customers don't like you, regulators are constantly sniffing around the edges of your operations and you're perpetually faced with the Hobson's Choice of investing billions in new network capability or risk falling behind other, similarly vilified competitors. In short, you can't win. And the recent spate of negative publicity surrounding the real-world experiences of customers using 3G-capable smartphones suggests this situation won't improve anytime soon.
It's their own fault
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It's the end of the iPod as we know it
By Carmi Levy on September 8, 2009, 10:24 AM
84 Comments
The big news this week promises to be Apple's annual September product launch on Wednesday. Of course, the famously secretive company won't confirm anything before then, but if the rumors are to be believed, Apple is about to release another generation of refreshed iPods on a drooling world.
Which begs the question: Does the world even need a new iPod? Or, viewed another way, have the old iPods run their course? Or another, does anyone buy single-function music players anymore, or has the world moved on to multifunction devices?
Cloudy forecast? Gmail outage shouldn't cast such a chill over Web apps
By Carmi Levy on September 3, 2009, 3:48 PM
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Will this week's Google Mail outage frighten you out of shifting more of your computing solutions into the cloud?
On balance, it shouldn't, as no technology is perfect and failure is part of the landscape whether we keep our stuff in a data center, in a box under our desk, or on some unseen Web server on the other side of the country. But any failure of this magnitude offers up a prime opportunity to discuss -- and hopefully improve -- the weaknesses that can still bite us.
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Don't drop that phone! Fragile devices threaten customer loyalty
By Carmi Levy on August 31, 2009, 5:31 PM
40 Comments
The iPhone is a technical marvel, a full-on computer that happens to fit in your pocket. It isn't alone: The average BlackBerry is also pretty magical in its own right, as are high end phones from Nokia, HTC and a host of other vendors.
Fantastically capable as they are, don't drop yours. Don't get it wet, either. Don't stress or damage it in any way. Because if you think you can simply bring it back to the store where you got it and swap it out under warranty for a replacement unit, think again. Violate the warranty terms and you'll be buying yourself a new one.
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Mac OS X Snow Leopard is coming: Yes, do upgrade!
By Carmi Levy on August 27, 2009, 2:50 PM
68 Comments
If nothing else, the operating system market these days is infinitely entertaining. Consider the humble upgrade.
Some OS upgrades, like XP-to-Vista on a marginally capable machine, demand more up-front planning than the end result is often worth. You end up spending money and time on a machine that, while it may look prettier, runs slower and gives you more headaches than it solves. Other upgrade scenarios, like Vista-to-Windows 7, are a lot more straightforward and easier for most folks to justify.
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