Posts by Argh

Skype brings cross-platform video to Android

Google talk on Android

Unless you're using Android 2.3.4+ (still quite rare), you won't even have audio on Google Talk, let alone video.

In fact, the HTC Flyer tablet is just about to get a 2.3.4 release and it still doesn't have video.

I've been quite happy with Skype audio on Android, despite the haters. I don't have a device capable of running the video in this release though, unfortunately.

I don't think Microsoft will have had anything to do with this update, but wouldn't care if they had, unless it was obvious that they were holding back specific features for their own devices.

MIPS chip slips through Android compliance

NDK

I guess that any apps using NDK won't currently work with this... e.g. Angry Birds that was quoted in the article.

Android Market should have enough control to only show NDK apps to devices with the correct chipsets, as it currently does with some graphic chipsets, but it's going to mean that most games and some other apps will need multiple releases from developers.

Phishers LAMP web hosts

I think you may be missing something

As I understood it, they're saying that people are targeting the LAMP systems in order to launch phishing attacks against 3rd parties.

Daleks given a well-earned break

Bertie Bassett

Surely the killer Bertie Bassett (in The Happiness Patrol) was the scariest.

In terms of confectionary-based foes, he was far more frightening than Mr. Staypuft from Ghostbusters.

Folder Organizer

Rearranging

For one, I hate that you can't rearrange icons in Android folders. I get a new app that I use a lot, and it's stuck at the bottom of my folder list when i'd like it in the mid-right side, right next to my thumb for the most efficient start. I haven't tried this app, but it sounds like it should handle it.

The only work around to this with default Android folders is to remove all the other items and re-add them in the order you want. Clunky.

Some people (not me) also care about how consistent their phone looks, or want to make it unique. They'll redo all the icons for their apps in a consistent style that they're happy with.

Cloud gaming storms into the UK

Only got sound when I tested Spore

I've tried twice. It did the tests, said everything was fine, loads the applet and all I get is the progress bar sitting there at 100% and some whooshy sound effects which I suppose might be from Spore.

Google Chrome extension bars domains from search results

I don't understand the bile towards experts-exchange

They're original content, as far as I know, and if you click the link in google, they do actually provide the answers for free (at the bottom of the page, as mentioned in previous comments).

I strongly hope Google do not do a global ban based on a few people who don't know how to scroll a browser window, or use "find" on a page.

Patent attack launched on Google's open video codec

Microsoft?

Microsoft don't ship patents for many different video encodings, but allow users to install the codecs themselves.

They're allowing this with WebM/IE9 as well. It's not really surprising that they're not shipping a new codec with the browser.

It's Apple that implied they were going after WebM, not Microsoft, who publicly said they would support it if users installed the codec. Obviously they might be saying / doing different things behind closed doors, but I'm not aware of any evidence of this so far.

Adobe Flash: 20m phones flip Steve Jobs the bird

And YouTube

Don't forget YouTube, which they keep saying can't be fully converted to HTML5 due to the limitations on control of streaming video.

Android's on top – will Nokia and RIM let it in?

@ThomH: Entering a URL in the browser on android

Press the menu button, and the URL bar will pop-up, no need to scroll to the top.

Google algorithm change squashes code geek 'webspam'

experts-exchange

Whenever I've had Google results from experts-exchange, I've always found that if I scroll down to the bottom, the answers are there anyway, it's only at the top of the page that they're blurred / labelled as needing a subscription.

That's not to say the answers will be correct, just that anyone can read them, not just Googlebot.

Well I couldn't with that link

But when I typed the question from that link in to Google, then clicked on the Experts Exchange search result, it gave the answers at the bottom.

You're welcome!

Hacker unshackles Kinect from Xbox

Someone upvoted that comment?

It's not much like a PS2 Eye Toy, technically. Or even a PS3 Eye.

It's a motorised camera / microphone unit that also provides depth information with IR. The depth information is the key differentiator and what makes it unique. There's an interesting YouTube video showing a room using Kinect through IR goggles. The room is filled with dots of IR light.

The reason Microsoft don't want people to hack it is that they likely sell it for a loss. Robotics engineers, for example, would probably love to put one of these on their devices, as the current commercial alternatives cost a lot more. Microsoft would effectively be subsidising them :)

I'm not sure how well that would work though, after reports that Kinect really only works 6ft+ from the camera (and the previously mentioned YouTube video confirms that the dots only start at about this distance away).

It will be interesting to see how much of the depth calculations and gesture recognition are performed in the device and how much on the CPU/GPU of the Xbox360.

Top Ten Retro PC Games

Kids these days

You're thinking of the far more modern Gauntlet 2 ("Green Wizard is it", "Blue valkyrie now has... reflective shot" etc.).

In Gauntlet, the wizard would always be yellow ("Wizard needs food, badly", almost always followed by "Warrior shot the food" as your friend laughed).

Google sticks goggles on the iPhone

Face recognition

In the past, they've said that they can already do facial recognition (I assume something along the lines of Picasa), but they purposefully disabled it due to the potential for misuse.

Who knows if this was true or not, though.

Mozilla Labs dreams of projected keyboard phone

Maybe...

Maybe, but Steve Jobs will invent this 5 years from now and it will all be his idea.

Apple issues moral regulations apps dev guide

Opera call it a web browser

While Opera are calling it a web browser (see mini.opera.com) , I think they'd have a hard time denying that it's a web browser.

Retailers price up Samsung 7in Android tablet

Cheap Android tablets

All those cheap tablets have been awful from the reviews I've seen, with slow processors, old versions of Android, resistive input and low quality screens.

The Galaxy Tab is based on a much faster processor and should be a good device. The price is obviously an issue though. It will have to be spectacular to be worth that and even then they'll have trouble selling it over the perceived "best" device in the public eye, the iPad.

Dell Streak causes user fury

Desirable?

> The HTC Desire is probably the most google compatible Android phone

That's great if you're happy with the whole 70MB or so free internal storage that it provides to install your applications. I have one and it's nowhere near enough to use a wide range of applications / games without hacking an apps2sd+ ROM.

Even the Froyo updates don't help a lot, as so much is still stored on the internal storage and when you get down to ~15MB free and get the low storage warning, some apps stop working, e.g. gmail refusing to sync.

Lock up your Crackberries

Windows Mobile has already had this for years.

I always had mine set up to show the "owner information" when the device was brought out of sleep. Not possible now I'm using Android, as far as I can see.

No doubt Windows Phone 7 will remove the feature but look prettier.

Dell Streak GPL snub enrages Android fans

Other Android vendors

Then other Android vendors such as HTC are also in breach of the GPL. They always get around to releasing it in the end but usually weeks / months after the device is on the market.

Similarly after firmware updates there are delays before the updated source is available.

Group Test: smartphone satnav apps

Garmin on mobile

Yes. I've used Garmin on both Windows Mobile and Symbian. Provided free (other than network data) location driven Panoramio, Google search and petrol prices a few years ago.

I don't know what's changed since then, if anything.

Head App Store plod punts farts 'n' wiz

Honestly?

Ovi store is as full of them as the other stores.

http://store.ovi.com/search?q=fart

The Camel: Nokia unveils user designed phone

Dolby surround sound

Before you insult people, you might want to do some research.

The Nokia N8 already provides Dolby surround sound. It takes effect when you use the HDMI output.

BBC news apps squeeze onto iPhone, iPad

MeeGo?

Because there are so many shipped devices using Meego!

Or Maemo really, compared to other platforms.

Symbian I can understand, and the BBC have actually shipped iPlayer applications for some Symbian platforms (N97 etc.).

This is old news, but I still feel the need to nag. I can understand the BBC shipping iPhone apps now, but was a bit annoyed when iPlayer was released for it when it was a very rare device in the UK with only a single network selling it. Not really investing in technology to benefit the majority of license payers.

4chan flings faeces at Gawker

You think that's bad?

Have you read her Tumblr entry, reprinted at the top of:

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Jessi_Slaughter [NSFW!]

I doubt it

I've heard that they can go through 7 PROXIES.

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/7_Proxies

Google cracks open Android's closed development

Microsoft to the rescue! *watches you cringe*

Well, you could buy a Windows Mobile device and boot it in to some Linux variant, such as Ubuntu, using HaRET -- unlike flashing most other devices (including Nexus One), this won't even invalidate your warrantee, as it doesn't reflash anything.

I suppose that isn't technically a phone OS, but it works. On quite a few Windows Mobile devices, you can even boot in to Android like this, giving you a nice choice of OS.

Google preps tablet-friendly Chrome that knows 'what's up'

Why does the browser care about the orientation?

I can see why the OS should support it, but why does the browser need to be modified for this?

I would expect that the OS should be responsible for keeping everything "the right way up", and just passing the browser information about the change in window size, in case a different UI layout is required for portrait/landscape orientations.

Popular apps don't bother with Windows defences

I pardon you being dense

Altering existing API calls to have different semantics (e.g. DEP) to what they usually have will break any existing applications that use JIT compilation, for example.

DEP is therefore opt-in on Windows. Code that isn't self-altering can just enable DEP in the linker and work. Code that is self-altering can still use DEP, but needs changes to specifically mark "non-DEP" sections of memory.

ASLR is similar. I'm not entirely sure of the reasons not to enable it, other than all components loaded by an ASLR-enabled component must also be ASLR-enabled. I imagine that there are low-level applications that make assumptions about the address space layout.

Motorola advert revels in anti-iPhone schadenfreude

You're doing it wrong

Most people don't put the knife in to their mouths.

Neuroscientist: iPhone 4's 'Retina display' not bullsh*t

But...

But it's not. It's 960x640.

Jobs tells iPhone users to get a grip

Great feedback from Engadget here

Showing all the official marketing media with people holding the phone "wrong":

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/25/hey-apple-youre-holding-it-wrong/

Hesitant Mozilla nurses Firefox 3.6.4 baby for a bit longer

Firefox crashes

The only thing that occasionally causes my Firefox seems to be a random crash some time shortly after using Webex.

I do however see large memory leaks that slow it dow after a week of heavy usage if I don't close all the browser windows and restart.

Microsoft legal foes withdraw EU complaint

Zzzz

And they force you to install the volume control too, denying the market to the 3rd party volume control developers!!!11!!!111

Some people like their OS to be shipped with some functionality.

Personally, I use Firefox but IE doesn't get in my way and allows some 3rd party software to run that embeds IE controls (as Steam did up until their recent shift to a Webkit engine for cross-platform compatibility).

Android phones get free video calling

No front camera

With neither the Nexus One nor the Desire having a front camera (i.e. where you can be on camera and also see the screen), they're not very useful for video calls.

I'm not sure aboute cameras on the milestone.

Jobs drops hint on Google open video codec

Choosing their battles

@lucmars: They wouldn't battle against Google, they'd battle against someone smaller who's using the codec.

Apple said to order 24 million iPhone 4Gs

Moving the goal post

So when HTC released the Touch HD with 800x480 resolution about 2 years ago, they weren't moving any goalposts? The iPhone was released with a fairly low resolution at the time compared to may WM devices that were 640x480.

The iPhone also released with the intention of not supporting native apps, just web based apps, if you remember before they were forced to as other vendors did support native apps.

Tell me more about these goal posts?

Microsoft sneak peeks Hotmail makeover

Hmm

Interesting, I've got a hotmail account which I rarely use (I prefer gmail) and haven't logged in to the webmail interface for years. It's still going.

I've been using the outlook connector though, rather than POP. Maybe that behaves differently.

Symantec fires off false alarm on WoW update

Unixy?

One program in one folder? Like /usr/bin on Unix-style OSs?

Microsoft U-turns on WebKit extension for Mobile IE

In the linked blog post...

They said they'd already done that.

80% of devs chafe at Apple's App Store cash split

Compare to Handango

I believe that the Handango revenue split depended on how much the application makes in gross revenue in 2008 (no idea now).

<= $250,000 and they take 50%

$250,001-$1000,000 and they take 40%

>$1000,000 and they take 30%

Apple looking pretty reasonable now, right?

Ugh. I feel dirty for defending Apple. Have a Bill Gates with a Halo to make up for it :D

Microsoft's FUD goes mobile

HTC deal

It does seem strange that MS would screw over one of their biggest supporters.

I wonder if this is related to Apple suing HTC. Possibly MS are going to provide some legal backup in exchange for these patents? Perhaps some of the Apple patents overlap with some of the MS ones and now HTC can say they've already licensed them?

If not, I would think that the rabid Reg commentards would be happy that MS is upsetting one of the biggest suppliers of WM devices, as having a partner that treats them badly is sure to affect the likelihood of HTC pushing WP7 devices in the future.

HTC HD mini

So many clicks to get in to contacts?

On all (3) of my HTC devices since WM2003, it's just been 1 click.

Press the "dial" button and the dialler comes up with all your contacts. You can find a specific contact by using the T9 pad to type their name, then click the "contact card" option beside it.

If you want to add a new contact, I agree, it's far too many clicks. 1 or 2. One to click the "contacts" tab, and if your contact isn't in your favourite list, another to click "all contacts".

I think that you may want to actually use a WinMo device before insulting it.

With that said, I'm just about to try Android for a change, but I've got nothing against WinMo or S60.

Adobe man to Apple: 'Go screw yourself'

Convert it

I don't know if what was written above is true but if it is then it's clearly against Apple terms by still being interpreted code.

An alternative (which may be blocked by the new SDK wording) would be to have a library written in one of Apple's supported languages with the core Flash functionality in it, then to convert the Flash files in to one of Apple's supported languages that makes calls out to this library.

This can then be compiled as a native application with no interpreting. Obviously this may not be straightforward but it does remove interpreted code.

Microsoft sorry over quiet Office Mobile 2010 beta kill date

No need for hard reset in this case

If it's pre-installed in the firmware, you shouldn't need to hard reset. The beta installation files are just an overlay on top of the firmware files, so just uninstalling them would bring back the default firmware files (which can't be deleted). This is explained in the article.

T-Mobile bribes fanbois to trade iPhone for...Windows Mobile 6.5

Especially if...

Especially if the Kia cost more than the Mercedes (as the RRP for the HD2 does compared to the iPhone) and they both got the same review score of 85% on the same website (Reg Hardware in this case).

Oh right... that means it's a perfectly fair comparison and not a joke at all.

Windows Phone 7 Series gets Timotei rinse

Multitasking

Zzzzz.

Windows CE also has multitasking, which Windows Phone 7 and previous versions of Windows Mobile use as the core OS.

They've already said WP7 will allow various functions in the background, including music player.

Personally, I'd have preferred it if they'd allowed multitasking from the start, as well as the other features from previous versions of Windows Mobile, such as copy/paste and external storage. While enjoying the flexibility of WM in the past, I'm currently not tempted by WP7. I might try Android for a bit and hopefully MS will add the features back in the meantime.

First WiMAX phone to debut next week?

What about the HTC Quartz?

I thought that the HTC Quartz (released in November 2008) was a WiMAX capable smartphone, or is this reporting a different kind of "first"?

Carrier apathy depresses Google Phone outlook

Microsoft?

I think that you mean Apple.

Microsoft have allowed carriers to add and remove default applications and functionality from their OS and completely replace the UI (e.g. the older Orange HTC devices) for many years. This looks like it may be reduced somewhat in the upcoming Windows Phone 7 though.

Apple came along and told the operators they had to provide flat rate data and give them a cut of the contract price. Or else *threatening glare*.