Posts by RichyS

Google delays Chrome OS, punts brandless beta netbook

Totally agree... with Goat Jam

@Goat Jam

Unfortunately, I totally agree with you. I think a ChromeOS netbook properly defines what a netbook should be (the clue is in the 3 letters before 'book'). I really like the idea, but suspect that it will flop.

Google do not appear to be very good at marketing the sort of concept which is a bit tricky for your average consumer to understands. Wave and Buzz being excellent examples of Google producing something quite clever, but having no idea how to market it. Google will just explain what a Chrome netbook is, what features it has, etc., but will (as usual) totally fail to explain the benefit to consumers in terms that they understand.

Contrast this with an iPhone 4 advert I saw last night. It started out by saying that the iPhone 4 had a Lithium polymer battery. So what. Your average consumer probably has no idea what this is, or if it's good or bad, or whether other phones have LiPoly batteries. But, the bulk of the advert then goes on to explain what this means to the user -- longer time listening to music, more downloads, more FaceTime, more video recording, etc. Then the killer line of 'all in the thinest smartphone available'. So the viewer goes away thinking that they can do more in a smaller package with the iPhone 4, rather than going away thinking 'the iPhone 4 has a LiPoly battery. And?'

This is what Google need to get. They need to explain the clear benefits of ChromeOS over Win7 in a netbook. And not in terms of: well, it's got an ARM processor instead of an Atom. I don't suppose this will happen though.

Google launches 'free' 'open' 'cloud' eBooks digiback service

Open?

It's an interesting definition of 'open'. I think what Google mean to say is 'cross platform'. Not really the same thing at all...

Arcam rCube portable iPod speaker system

My thoughts exactly

I'm beginning to think an Airport Express of Apple TV hooked up to a decent set of active speakers is the best solution. Hell, get one of the none wireless (but with aux input) iPod docs if you need somewhere convenient to charge your iDevice from time to time.

Reg Hardware Reader Awards 2010

Has to be the iPad

Okay, if you've never used one, they might seem a bit pointless.

If you have used one, chances are you love it. I couldn't imagine being without one now.

So, iPad: consumer product of the year.

Reg Hardware Reader Awards 2010

GoodReader

Well, I think the App I use most (other than Safari and Mail) on my iPhone and iPad is GoodReader. Therefore, App of the Year for me.

Honorable mention to RunKeeper for a slick sports/fitness app that really can only be done using a smartphone.

Reg Hardware Reader Awards 2010

Tricky one

Rather depends on your definition of 'best' -- best customer service, best range, best delivery times, best pre-sales support etc.

Personally, I buy most of my kit from eBuyer. Good range, cheap, and not too much of a faff when you need to return something. If I didn't think they were best, I guess I'd buy from someone else.

YMMV, however.

Android out-runs Windows Phone 7 on price comparison site

That's great

It's just that all the other smartphones are on at least 3rd gen by now...

Exactly

Freetards looking for free shit. Who'd have thought.

Samsung, Dixons herald huge tablet sales

Bulk

"...but the bulk of the sales seem to have taken place early on."

Well, I imagine that's because the bulk of Galaxy Tabs are sold through the network operators, and Samsung have thus sold the bulk to them.

It would be interesting to know how many are actually in consumer hands. I've not seen any on the Tube yet. Lots of Kindles and iPads, but no Tabs. Hmmm...

Viewsonic ViewPad 7 Android tablet

Riiiight

Yup, because all the indications are that this is going to happen.

Everyone seems to be pinning their hopes on Gingerbread. Or is it Honeycomb. Whatever, it's some 'to be released' version of Android that none of us have seen yet.

Excuse me if I don't hold my breath (though you're welcome to hold yours). Does the beer icon suggest that you were drunk when you wrote your comment?

iOS 4.2: An 'ace' for iPad, a 'meh' for iPhone

Mind the GAAP

It was GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).

And the guidance has changed. No iPod owner paid for the iOS4 updated (and possibly a version or two before that).

Why Microsoft is Acorn and Symbian is the new CP/M

Windows an OS

Windows wasn't an OS until NT came along.

Anything up to 3.xx was a GUI shell on top of MS-DOS. And even then, the whole 95-98-ME line was the same.

RIM Job

Surely the Blackberry is the typewriter of the 80s world.

Based on very old tech (the original Crackberries used the pager network FFS); have a proper keyboard (just like your old electric IBM typewriter!) and surprisingly difficult to dislodge from the office of the 80s. And, like typewriters, Crackberries only really do one thing well.

Chinese retailers sell Apple-only white iPhone 4s

So...

... does the button match the face (or collar match the cuffs, if you will)?

Steve Jobs no longer Eggman as Beatles hits iTunes

Artwork

Oh well, at least I can now get some decent artwork for the Beatles albums I've already ripped to iTunes.

Hurray for the 'Get album art' feature...

Reg Hardware Reader Awards 2010

Rusty Dodo

Well, it has to be a toss up between the JooJoo or the Kin.

However, on the basis that Microsoft managed to take a half decent product (Danger Hip Top) and invest heavily, and still totally fuck it up with the usual mix of internal politics, dogfooding, and hubris; then I have to ultimately plump for the KIN.

Nokia slips out Designed By Community handset

I couldn't disagree more with your disagreement

Asking customers what they want in the future is the worst thing you can do.

To labour the whole car analogy meme, I remember Ford launching the last of the Escorts to much fanfare about how much customer research they'd done, and the number of clinics etc that the car had been through. Inevitably the car stacked up well. Against the Astra and Golf from 3 years ago. As a contemporary car, it was crap. To push the analogy further (and back in Ford's time) Henry Ford once said that if he'd listened to what his customers had wanted, he'd have built them a faster horse.

Customers are notoriously rubbish at knowing what they want in 12-24 months time. Apple never ask customers what they want, and I hear they're doing quite well at tue moment...

HDMI

And having to plug your phone into your TV is useful because...?

The forgotten, fat generation of Mac Portables

Obsolete

So, about 2 weeks then.

@Chromatix

Don't forget that the original Newton used ARM chips too. Apple liked the look of what Acorn (under Olivetti) were doing at the time, and was a co-founder in ARM Holdings (along with, IIRC, VLSI and Acorn themselves).

I think Apple have since sold their stake (they needed the cash in the late 90s/early 2000s).

Comet bomber flyby pics show spaceball belching ancient dry ice

Great name

Professor Jessica Sunshine.

What a fabulous name. Especially for a NASA scientistic. Perhaps she's studying the wrong celestial body though...

Pay rises all round for Googlers

Indeed

And he's got a long list of everyone who's been naughty or good.

Well, based on what you search for, anyway.

And he knows where you live, so no issue with finding the right chimney.

iPhone 4: the best built smartphone...

Damage rates

The snag with tracking damage claims is that someone actually has to go to the bother of getting their phone repaired.

Most people have a Blackberry because it is a tool. They're not that bothered if it gets a bit damaged. In fact, I find it rare these days to see a Crackberry at work that hasn't lost some bit of its faceplate, or a button or two. Yet no-one minds too much. So long as they can continue to get their email, they're fine.

An iPhone on the other hand. I'd weep if I got a scratch on my 600 quid iPhone 4 (disclaimer: I don't have an iPhone 4). Therefore, much more likely to claim on the insurance -- even if it means stumping up a fair amount of cash for the excess.

Exactly

What with all those people returning their defective iPhones.

Oh wait...

3 starts killing off 2G coverage

Did 3 sell the Sony Ericsson W910?

I used to have one. Nice looking slider Walkman type thing. The problem was the thing only lasted half a day on 3G, so I had to switch it to a permanent 2G only connection to make it usable.

I imagine several other 3G phones suffer similar usability issues. Oh well, any excuse for a forced upgrade, eh.

Steve Jobs chucks Apple server biz from pram

I agree, to an extent

While I agree with the article to an extent, I wonder who the typical XServe customer really is, and if they're beat served (ahem) by running their own kit.

Apple appears to be investing heavily in infrastructure suitable for cloud offerings (in the soon to be operational North Carolina DC). I would have thought that Apple offering servers as a service would be much more in line with Apple's ethos.

This might also be the different approach that Apple need to take in enterprise (at least for SMEs) that will allow them to fully break into the market that Dell and HP have pretty much sown up. These SMEs are really beginning to wake up to the benefits of cloud.

Let's face it, the NC DC seems massively oversized for offering a few extra streaming iTunes movies (and possibly music). Could it be the start of Apple's enterprise play?

US smartphones – Once you’ve had Android there’s no going back

It's not all about units shipped

I suspect the outcome of the Android and iOS 'battle' will be similar to the Mac and PC world.

Android is cheap and good enough for most people. The numbers of people buying the top end Android phones is similar to the new GFX card every 6 weeks hard core gamers to the PC world. Frankly small and insignificant (in more ways than one on the gamer side!).

While Android devices soak up the mass market; those willing to spend a bit more for a better overall experience will continue to go with the iPhone. As a platform, OSX only has about 8-10% of the OS market, but in terms of computer makers, is third only to HP and Dell (http://www.idc.com/about/viewpressrelease.jsp?containerId=prUS22531110). More importantly, of purchases over $1000, Apple apparently takes 90% of the revenue according to research in June 2009 (since which Apple have seen a surge in Mac demand, but anyway, the link is here: http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Apple-has-91-of-market-for-1000-PCs-says-NPD/1248313624).

So, relatively low market share, yet pretty big profits. I'll take that over raw shipment figures any day.

And the same thing can be seen in mobile here:

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/21/pie-chart-apples-outrageous-share-of-the-mobile-industrys-profits/

and here:

http://www.asymco.com/2010/10/31/making-it-up-in-volume-how-to-view-unit-profitability-vs-volume-in-handsets/

and here:

http://www.asymco.com/2010/11/03/how-much-profit-did-vendors-capture-from-android-powered-phones/

So, there's no doubt Android is doing well; but I don't think Apple are too worried just yet.

Nominet forgets what the first .uk domain name was

If we were .gb...

...then what about Northern Ireland?

Adopting .ie is a bit 'republican', and .ni is already in use by Nicaragua.

Clive Sinclair unveils 'X-1' battery pedalo bubble-bike

DVD?

LaserDisc, surely.

It's taken HOW long to get THIS?

Is it just me, or does this contraption look more like a precursor or prototype for the C5. Not something designed and built with 20-odd years hindsight and technological advances behind us.

I suspect Sirclive's been spending too much time with his lap dancer.

First Windows Phone 7 handsets sell out

El Reg has been taken over.

Wow, the MS shills are out in force today.

The comments section reads like no other Reg comments section I've seen before. Very bizarre.

The WinPho7 looks nice enough, but not exactly the breakthrough device the slavering hordes (well, Jim and a couple of others) on here would suggest.

Credit card 'flash attack' steals up to $500,000 a month

Halifax

But was the Halifax branch in Essex too?

DfT to install new motorway tech

Re. not that sort

By the sounds of it, the HA will be using the same cameras that they use for measuring the time between junctions (you already see the electronic signs on some motorways telling you how many minutes until the next junction -- the M4 springs to mind).

These cameras actually reduce your VRM to 4 characters (IIRC), thus making the transmitted data non-unique. If all you're doing is measuring average traffic speed, then this is fine (you'll get a few false positives, but who cares). The good thing is that this processing is done 'in camera' -- so Plod get nothing they can use. Also, IIRC, the cameras are not of evidential quality -- they don't take a scene photo or store the photo of the plate. Again, Plod gets nothing.

Of course, there's nothing stopping HA changing all the cameras in the future; but I guess the large amount of cash required for little benefit (to them) would dissuade them enough.

Keep yer tinfoil hats in the cupboard for now.

Sony UK fuels Christmas cheer with VAT back promo

Maths fail

Sadly, it'll be nearer a 15% discount. Remember, the 17.5% is an /increase/ on a smaller number. The difference between the two is a lower percentage of the bigger number.

Mine's the one with a Casio graphing calculator in the pocket.

iPhoto 11 ate my library, say users

@Montreux

The faces were just too ugly.

Contrary to geek opinion

I happen to think the way iPhoto manages your photos is a good way of doing things.

The photos are not merged as BLOBs into some big arsed database, but simply stored as files in a Package. There is good reason for this.

The good reason is that iPhoto stores the original photo and any updates is a second photo that includes sufficient meta data so that the various changes can be undone (to an extent, at least). If all these files were open to the average user messing around, then the links in the iPhoto database will soon get lost. Now, Apple could make use of their kernel hooks to track this (in much the same way as Spotlight is managed), but this seems an unnecessarily complex way of doing things.

If you want to keep a filing system 'backup' of your files, you can always export the photos from iPhoto. Otherwise, just let Time Machine back them up for you. You do make sure you have a backup before installing new software, don't you?

Regardless of the pros and cons of Apples approach, this still seems a bit of a feck up from Apple. It will be interesting to see what the causes of the issue are, and why these did not become apparent in Apple's testing.

Ms. Gates: 'Bill does not use a Mac'

Won't somebody please think of the children...

Those poor children are going to get mercilessly bullied at school. Nothing gets you a wedgie faster than whipping out your Zune.

Sony hits stop on Walkman tape players

WTF?

I can't believe that Sony were still making Walkmans. And they wonder why Apple stole a march on them...

Adobe AIR 2.5 adds Flash to Android, TV and RIM tablets

PR

Nice Adobe press-release?

Where's my Monday morning dose of El Reg biting sarcasm? Disappointed.

Hands on with the new Apple MacBook Air

Riiight

If the Air is just a netbook, then the iPad is just a large iPod Touch...

This stuck record is getting really tedious.

Google Android 3.0 on track for New Year tablet launches

January, riiiiight...

It's taken bloody ages for anyone to finally ship tablets based on Android 2.x, despite the fact that we've seen the hardware demod for ages now.

What makes anyone think that LG, Samsung, etc. will receive 3.0 sometime in December, turnaround the testing, make any necessary changes, and start shipping product in less than a month?

I suspect we'll only start seeing credible (i.e. not no-brand Chinese tat) 3.0 tablets at the end of Q1 2011. Or pretty much an entire year since the iPad was announced.

Alternative iPhone 4 nears end of test phase, claims insider

Flattened? WTF? Are you brain dead?

If a 91% increase in sales over this time last year could be considered 'flattening', I'd hate to see how many iPhones Apple could sell if they were on a roll.

Calling you brain dead is an insult to the dead of brain...

Apple posts $20bn+ quarter

Quality counts

I think in a recession that people are just more careful with their money. They are willing to 'invest' in a quality product, but less willing to impulse spend on something that's basically just cheap tat -- like your average netbook.

Whether you have some irrational hatred for Apple or not, it's unlikely that all the customer satisfaction surveys they top can be incorrect. Face it -- Apple make a good product that is marketed well that fits a consumer need. No wonder they make money!

Google TV transplants Android on Intel

Actually...

Apple were actually one of e original founders of ARM Holdings. Back when they needed chips for the Newton, they saw what Acorn were doing with the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) and set up ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) Holdings with them and VLSI (I believe, may have to check that one).

I'm not sure about te current ownership status, but ARM does not necessarily not equal Apple.

Doctors' appointment system goes tits up

DR

I guess DR means something different in the NHS.

Dr? Oh yes, we've got lots of those...

Microsoft, Adobe merger? Yeah, right

The size of a cow.

If anyone can eat a cow in a single sitting, it's Steve Ballmer.

Beer icon, as he'll need something to wash it down with.

Google TV mimics Android's closed openness

Creepy

"Right now, we're really focused on the user."

I think you misquoted Chandra. Surely he said: "Right now, we're really focused on the user's data."

Google: getting creepier every day.

Logitech unveils first Google TV box

How much?

Looks nice enough, but how much are they asking?

Aside from a bit of iPlayer and YouTube (the horror) what benefit is this going to get a UK user? I can control my PVR via the ever reliable magic of IR blasters? No thanks, I think I'll stick with my perfectly adequate Sky HD UI.

If this was $99/£79 a la Apple TV, I might give it a go. But at $299 they're having a laugh.

iPhone apps put user privacy at risk

@Jaitch -- idiot

"Meanwhile, I will happily continue to use my 7 year-old Mitsubishi cell phone, which makes great calls and e-mails, but can't detect where it is but provides great privacy."

Well, if you think that, then you're an idiot. Your dumbphone -- or more importantly, your network operator -- always knows where you are.

In the UK, this data is stored an is accessible by Plod, local authorities, and pretty much anyone else under dubious NuLab legislation. IIRC the total requests (not necessarily location based data, but requests for information nevertheless) for one network of which I have some knowledge is around 15,000 every single month.

Frankly, I'd rather some two bit developer knows some anonymous information about me, rather than my operator knowing who I am, where I live, my credit card and bank details, who I call, who calls me, where I am all the time my phone is on, /and/ will hand all this over to some random punter in my local council at the drop of the hat.

But yeah, good luck with your crappy Mitsubishi cell phone.

Internet tethering spotted in iPad iOS beta

Yawn

Christ, you're getting boring.