Posts by alun phillips

Apple fined $1.2m for flouting Italian warranty law

Tesco's?

@Metavisor Hell i'm gonna throw this in to muddy the water,

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jun/05/consumer-rights-returned-goods

The EU directive apparently(?) says "All EU countries have to ensure a retailer could be held liable for all 'non-conformities' which manifest within two years from delivery. However, this is not a two-year guarantee (although eurospeak does not help by describing this as the 'legal guarantee'), because goods are not required, in law, to last for those two years."

So I suppose they could argue thats it's free of non-conformities, but just sh*t once the SOGA protection has expired, in the UK at least.

Does your smartphone run Carrier IQ? Find out here

Read your own title

I feel as the title says "find out here" it would be quite reasonable to find a list of devices, but no just a rehash of yesterdays story, way to go.

BUSTED TWO: Carrier IQ monitor-ware on iPhones too?

Change your ROM

Metavisor, there is a way to remove carrier IQ, and all the other sh*T your carrier has foisted upon you ROOT and clean 'em out yourself or install a custom ROM. SImples!

Kindle Fire: An open letter to Jeff Bezos

Wow, and your surprised

The Fire always appeared to me to be a supercharged kindle, running a bastard offspring of Android. Which to my mind makes it too expensive if you want a cheap android tablet there are better alternatives if you want a better ereader there are better alternatives, so why anyone would buy one is a mystery to me?

Farewell then, Sony Ericsson

So How'd that work out then?

XCP? assume no one pirates sony artists any more?, removing other OS forced users who buy newer hardware, or where stupid enought to update it, to hack it to run anything other than official OS, The encryption key debacle? is this the one you meant? 46 DC EA D3 17 FE 45 D8 09 23 EB 97 E4 95 64 10 D4 CD B2 C2.

Public relations never Sony's strong points, suprised no hackers took umbrage at there behaviour...oh wait!

Devs still frozen out of Android ice cream source

Give them a chance

The GPL requires the source code to be made available, which google have pledged to do. I can see that they are currently in breech of the GPL but it's the way they have always handled releases of Android, but at least they admitted that the HC source was never going to be officially released.

CyanogenMod 7.1 brings 24 Android phones into fold

RTFW

Instructions on the Wiki http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/HTC_Ace:_Rooting_%26_CyanogenMod , at least for the Desire HD, go from first principles. IMHO if you don't find them instructive enough then flashing custom roms probably ain't for you.

Got a non-iPad tablet? Weirdo

I don't get it

I like the idea of a tablet but can't justify spending more on a tablet than my wife's laptop cost (£350~) and for something with less functionality, that's why I plumped for a Hannspad at £150. But then I wouldn't spend £'s on a phone with less functionality than my HTC Desire HD either.

Amazon Free Apps start to rile developers

Degrading quality?

I don't expect the quality of the aafaotd to degrade as it already fairly near the bottom, with the odd expception, but as they say no press is bad press and this particular dev , if the comments on his blog and elsewhere are to be believed, is selling a fair few copies on the back of this story.

Paris as she doen't give anything away for free

Google activates half million Androids a day

Sales V Activations

The reason for activations against sales, is an activation is in the hand of an end user a sale can be whatever you want it to be, just ask Steve Balmer.

LulzSec disavows alleged Census hack

Census data

Who cares? it's all made publicly available eventually anyway isn't it

NHS Trusts in the dark over CfH licence transfer

Tied into to MS

The specs for connecting to the NHS spine, which where worked out with partners including MS, insist that the machines are running windows. So that's linux ruled out there, in my experience the PCT's could all switch to Chrome without losing any functionality as they appear unable to send out word documents without gratuitous spelling mistakes and formatting errors so are shying away from anything complicated.

Stealth-cam software snaps laptop looter

Sod the filth

You've got all this juicy info on him, ring him up tell him you've got his bank login details and if the laptop is not returned forthwith you'll be making a large withdrawal and then emailing all his contacts with the contents of his porn collection

Google sued over – yes – Android location tracking

You Guess again

Yes even with location off it knows, roughly, where you are as it's using cell towers to place you but it isn't storing the info or looking at wifi networks to improve accuracy.

But... WTF!

You have to agree for it to track you, if you later don't like the idea turn it off (Settings > location & Security > My location). So how you can sue because your phone is doing something you specifically agreed to is beyond me?

Five amazing computers for under £100

Miss my 3c

Yes what a great product, I even bought one new for somewhere in the region of £400 not long after launch loved it until the dreaded screen cable gave out, sold it for £50 and even got £10 for the manual on ebay

Ubuntu 'Natty Narwhal' breaks the surface

Contaminated with gnome shell you will be

Unity sits on top of gnome shell.

Phone seller pre-peddles white iPhone 4 for UNDER A GRAND!

Stock?!?

The lack of stock has never stopped Expansys listing items in the past and wont in the future, also bear in mind that their prices tend to be well above market if the stock ever materialises.

How Nokia and Microsoft will carve up mobile services

typo's?

Had I known AdMob was for sale for $750 or Quatro for $275 I might have taken a punt myself

HP launches webOS products, but no ecosystem

Oh my god, they killed Palm

So Palm is dead long live palm, I think these will go the way of HP's PDA's niche products used in a few industrial applications and then vanish off the face of the earth, my personal feeling is the biggest asset they bought with the acquisition was the Palm brand and that now been binned, way to go!

Alan Sugar's 'cockup braindead in call centre clueless' BT row

Do you really think thats the end of it....

Just you wait Sarah Bee's love slave, one week after your installed in your lovely new office BT will disconnect you and re-connect your old office...... ah the fun of a business move with BT

Me to!

Yep, took me about 10 days of trying to get BT to ring back to sort out a number of problems with a number transfer, 30 minutes after I'd vented my spleen on Twitter I had a personal response, still took them a further three days to transfer a friggin' number for me though

Windows Phone 7 gets unlocked

Thank Christ for MS's vigilance

So if you jailbreak it you can install software that has not been through microsofts stringent quality checks, having suffered enough from software that has been through MS's quality checks windows Me, Vista, etc etc you'd have to be a brave man to throw them away

Nokia E5 Qwertyphone

Lets do the timewarp

Can't be arsed reading the review, but it appears from the picture that your reviewing the palm centro?

OpenOffice files Oracle divorce papers

Backers?!?!?

Yes, because the supporters they have, Google, Canonical etc aren't gonna be able to stump up enough cash to keep it free

Google frees Gmail updates from Android

Clueless

ac @ 21:24 Why should you lose access to marketplace if you use a custom ROM? I have been using CyanogenMod since 4.0 and have full access to the Marketplace and always have, If you want your manufacturer to mollycoddle you with Updates buy an (cr)iPhone otherwise take control and jump!

BTW Gmail app is still rubbish even with the update sticking with the HTC email client here

Judge Dredd returns to the silver screen

Am I the Law

Please, please whatever happens they must include I am the Law by Anthrax in there somewhere

Vodafone won't act on customers' HTC Desires

Stop winging and start Hacking

To fully explore Android, you MUST have a rooted device, once this is done install Froyo yourself or settle for the network provider controlling your device, who knows where I'd be if I'd waited Froyo to be ported to my Magic? but with CM6 I am running Froyo and have been for the past month

Opera Mini de-betas on Android

Too little, too late

Had i been able to set 5.0 as default browser (yes i'd tried all the clunky intermediaries) I would probably still be using it, but as I am now using Froyo (CM 6.0 RC1 to be exact) and the standard browser is very rapid and X-scope renders pages much easier on a mobile screen, I am afraid Opera has missed it's chance with me

Apple denies iPhone 4 antenna glitch, blames inaccurate signal bars

All fixed then

So it's not crappy antennae then but crap reception, bet that makes the fanbois feel much better!

'Steve Jobs' switches to Android

wow didn't know that

Ultranote so the iPhone finds apps for you then? And looks like Froyo will sort the fragmentation issue as it's designed to have a smaller overhead and should work on all handsets

Volcanic ash grounds dozens of UK flights

Black Helicopters

If this Volcanic ash cloud is covering northern england , why can't I see it? What is going on that they don't want anyone leaving or entering the UK between 12.00 to 18.00 (very convenient timings for a cloud)?

the real question is are Black Helicopters grounded by Volcanic ash

HTC Legend

AC @ 18:07

Because mayhaps we don't want the locked down system of an iPhone and I certainly wouldn't let that malware iTunes anywhere near my pc (but thats ok as there isn't a linux version), that said the legend should be right up your alley a flash phone for the fanbois, specs are ok for now but it's gonna get a pummeling from the Desire / Nexus ones in the next month or so

Apple bins iPhone covers

Why cover for something that can't happen

Nah they don't cover scratches because they don't happen so why cover them!

I use a screen protector on my HTC Magic and have since day one, and have on any touch screen device as it keeps the food off!

Sci-fi and fantasy authors wade into Amazon spat

costs

A nice way to reduce costs,

Lawyers to right the EULA - use the CCNA licence, it's free!, (works for Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow)

DRM - licensing fee's, DRM doesn't work so why penalise the legal buyers at no cost to the pirates just do away with the DRM, (it hasn't done O'Reilly any harm).

and many of the rest are incurred anyway if you have a website, sure the costs ain't zero but they are considerably lower than they are for paper books.

Viva Feedbooks

Steve Jobs uncloaks the 'iPad'

is it...?

A large ipod touch or a small (overpriced) underpowered laptop without a physical keyboard?

Grenade because I am coming armed if theres fanboi's about

'Aurora' code circulated for years on English sites

Target of attack

CIA,

Interpol,

MI5

to name but three

Hacker brings multitouch to Google's Nexus One

Steve Kondik thats who

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanogenmod

Google uncloaks the Nexus One

trackball is essential

When working outside the OS i.e with the bootloader Touch screen doesn't work so the trackball is essential for anyone wishing to mod there device

Palm Pixi out next month

The point is....

To allow you to advertise the phone for £100 (with rebate) but make the godamn rebate so hard to claim that no one does, yet you can still advertise that magic £100 not the real price

Win 7 users shout: Where's my bloody ballot screen?

@AC

We linux types assume you can work out how to install your own choice of browser... Bloody GUI freaks whats wrong with a command line browser

Googleplex menaced by giant cream cake

Got Root

Come on, if youve not got Donut the one click exploit http://www.androidspin.com/sectionguidesandtutorials/10-rooting/58-android-rooting-in-1-click-limited-time-only-until-it-gets-patched still works and you can get donut for yourself and begin to severe the shackles that bind you to the big G

O2 UK denies pre-Halloween Pré launch

too little too late

Hate to say it but when my Treo packed in last month I jumped ship to Android and am sitting pretty at the moment with my HTC Magic just missing my hardware keyboard now, the google apps remind me of what Palm apps used to be before the community got bored, best of luck to Palm but can't help feeling that there train has left the station long ago

PC repair techs police dangerous picture law

@zerofool2005

Are you mad man? do you not read the daily mail?? if it's in arabic of course it's terrorist related otherwise they'd write it in English

Don't call me Ishmael

re A J Styles

"....When I run out of drugs , I'm gonna start using explosives" is also a phrase I am known to utter now and then

Palm Pre to sell like hot cakes, Sprint CEO proclaims

GSM anyone

Still waiting on the announcement of the GSM version for us over here in blighty!

Also not so sure on the pricing if this translates to a £1 to $1 as is usual, rip off, practice it's just to expensive. I dont plan on starting to pay for my phones and when I could have an Android phone, or even *cough* a Jesus phone, for FREE with a two year contract why pay?

Palm Pré to arrive next month?

pre-order means sod all

I mean I pre-ordered my R2-D2 ice bucket in August with Play http://www.play.com//ProductOutline.aspx?title=5345897&r=GADG , but I am jumping ship to whoever to get my pre ASAP

Rebellious BT computers refuse to take orders

Is it because where ripping you off?

When I left BT, to go cable, I got a phone call asking was it because my line rental was the vast majority of my bill, what with being a divorced Billy no mates working god knows what hours, as if it was they could swap my tarrif which would have saved me £60 over the past six months?, so whats that sorry your leaving but is it because weve ripped you off for the last six months?

And the time, BT charged me £120 to install a phone line into a flat I was living in because the original phone line had been swapped to the flat next door, after charging him £120 for the install of a new line?

look at it this way, BT will never see another penny of my money if I can help it.

BG because he's a saint compared to BT

Police raid CeBIT stands

Ogg's the answer

this kinda heavy handiness is the reason, plus the better quality for file size, that I swapped to Ogg! imagine the inconvenience when Fraunhofer really start to tighten the screws and you have to convert all your digital music to Ogg

Holy pancake appears on eBay

BBC gets everywhere

Anyone with half a brain can see thats Iggle Piggle and Upsy daisy from the Night garden, or is it just me...