Posts by rahul

Samsung faces Brazilian rap: Factory bods work '15hrs without break'

15 hours without a break? one bod ... 27 days without a break? Looks like their biometric attendance system is off kilter.

Review: HTC One

Phew, it's good to know...

...That I'm not the only one who hankers after microSD and removable battery as must-have features.

And, given that the low-light capability of the phone's camera has been so much talked about, maybe a couple of low light / indoor shots would have made sense? (no pun intended).

Waiter! There's a phone in my soup

NERD Alert!

Any one want to fit a rechargable battery to the bottom that can provide power as a phone charger as well as a soup warmer?

NASA SECRET DISCOVERY ON MARS: Meteor offers possible clue

Could Mars have been hosting life at one time?...

GET TO THE PROTHEAN RUINS ALREADY! (ME3 players only)

Apple's profits fetish could spell its DOOM

Apple is more than just a tech company...

It is a strongly entrenched content company too.

Android is strong, and rising fast, but mobile makers don't earn any money from content sold on Android. They may get profits on the hardware, but all profits from the platform go to Google (at least at first).

Apple has profits from hardware, software, content and saves on bulk purchases.

Many people comment on how Apple's share of the tablet market has slid heavily, especially in favor of Android. Yes, it has; but all it's earnings are it's to keep. The tablet markets content earnings do not benefit the manufacturer. So you have Android tablet manufacturers cutting each others profit margins to sell their devices, and try to manage with thin margins.

This is why the biggest threat to Apple is not Google, or Android, or Samsung, or any other; currently, it's hardest competition is probably Amazon.

Amazon has understood profits from content and scale, in a way that no other company has. It's customized Android based platform allows it to retain content profits.

And for those who believe Apple kit is expensive; yes, it is, but it is value for money. There is nothing midrange about anything they do or make.

They point that they are NOT reducing profits shows their confidence. I believe it will take a good hard hit on it's content business earnings before they decide to "mainstream" their prices.

Ten Linux apps you must install

More consumer oriented apps

May I suggest that you look towards more consumer oriented apps, such as Exaile (Music manager / player), WINE (usually for games), Audacity (Audio editing), GIMP (Picture editor) and niche stuff like SweetHome3D (home layout and planning). Dropbox client is also worth a review.

Google celebrates as Android hits 25 billion downloads

And here's a list...

http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/10i7mt/post_google_plays_25_cent_sales_here/

Crowd-sourced updates.

Apple time is now world time

Re: Why not buy a much better Samsug Galaxy S3 today?

Because of the content "lock in" lead that apple has. Apple customers have been buying content from Apple for far too long, including music, videos and apps.

While you can probably shoehorn your music and videos on your new android phone, most people balk at having to pay again for much used commercial apps.

Apple is the king of content, and it's not going to change anytime soon, I think.

Is it just my imagination...

... or is the animated logo/GIF tilted a couple of degrees to the left?

I took a ruler to it, and it definately seems a bit off kilter to me.

Any sublimnal message in that? "We are on the rise"?

Microsoft RTMs final Windows 8 and Server 2012 code

tech support? what tech support...?

Aug 15th is Independence Day holiday in India...

Now IPAD victor Proview is sued by its OWN law firm

Only in real life...

...can this kind of thing happen. Reality IS stranger than fiction... and often more hilarious.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Does anyone else...

...think that the "mini-apps" look like WebOS's (PalmOS's) "app cards"?

All sammy needs is another kick in the patent-pants.

Knocking down the processor should help in bumping the battery life up, so I guess I think that's OK.

Oracle accepts a nice round number in damages from Google

Shot in the arm?

Did WINE, ReactOS et al just get a shot in the arm with this ruling?

Microsoft details latest Windows Phone update

not be available in all markets or for all phones

"not be available in all markets or for all phones"..

and therein begins the fragmentation of the platform.

Indian callers could see bills DOUBLE after spectrum auction chaos

Re: Hate to say it...

"vested interests"... who do you think I am? A BIG business owner? A politico? I'm just an ordinary guy who is struggling against a tide that threatens to wash me away! Let's just take a look at the taxes me and my small business pay: Income Tax, Cess, Service Tax, Professional Tax, Water Tax, Sewage Tax, Excise, Value Added Tax, Central Sales Tax, Property Tax, Securities and Transaction Tax, Education Cess and a bunch of other levies.

Near as I can figure, a pizza costs me about 40% more than what it should. You can bet I will "guide" my employees to vote for a Government that is less wasteful and more business friendly.

Businesses contribute a lot more to the growth of the country, rather than a (vapid and clueless) Government; your attitude is one where people should thank the shopkeeper for giving them a sweet, rather than the person who is actually paying for the sweet.

You've very cleverly avoided a "pot calling the kettle black" argument about "vested interests" by staying Anon.

Hate to say it...

...but India will absolutely not be considered as an investment destination unless the current government changes.

The current "pro-poor" subsidies are all being misused, and the budgetary deficit is skyrocketing. The current governments anti-industry stance is a desperate attempt to finance their prodigalities.

The effect is trickling down to everyday life; 20% increase in service tax, desperate attempts to levy new taxes, increasing inflation, decline in GDP, policy paralysis, dwindling infrastructure, collapsing rupee, expensive imports...

Any positive movement is squelched with lightning speed; following a superbly thought out Railway Budget, one of the coalition partners lashed out, causing the Government to backdown and "fix" the Railway Budget, this ensuring that it remains broken for a longer time.

It's time the industry banded together and showed the government that it's survival does not depend on coalition partners alone; p*** off the industry, and they'll "guide" their employees votes.

Intelligence a genetic mistake

De-evolving

This article makes me think that most people around me currently are either de-evolving or have had their genes copied correctly.

China shoots for 800 million web users by 2015

Must read headline carefully...

I totally missed the word "for" in the headline... that seemed to me a drastic way to reduce broadband requirements.

Microsoft probes IE8 dll AWOL hell

Attn tinfoil hatters...

iertutil = Internet Explorer Random (or Remote) Termination UTILity?

Steve Jobs' last design: New Apple HQ pics

Get to the other side?

Anyone else feel that it will be a b* to get to the other side? Where one would normally have to walk 2r, now they will have to walk 0.5*2*pi*r (Or approx 1.57 times more).

Anyone else interested in buying Stegway stock?

Google's Moto move spells iPhone doom

Way to miss the point...

...Apple is not just building great devices; they are also building a (highly) profitable closed ecosystem.

Google may put android on 10 devices for every one Apple device, but Apple is also building a high content base for content consumption devices.

Android fragmentation is preventing this type of content buildup. Google may start purchasing and licensing content soon, but Apple is clearly the master of this game, and locks in consumers and vendors alike.

Apple's moves are always multi-fold; they squeeze profits from every level in the product strategy, including manufacturing, distributing, hardware profits, software profits, content profits, etc. They can easily (especially considering their current cash surplus) forgo one avenue of profit long enough to make it unviable for other entrants, then resume where they left off. The fact that they have not done so yet only shows that they consider their position very stable.

Cheap android devices are available, but any device that has near iPad capabilities is already pinched on price. Those that are cheap, don't have the performance (which is why Angry Birds is routinely patched to work on various sub-par Android devices). This also leads to IP theft, piracy and content oriented revenue loss.

Current content providers will clearly prefer the Apple platform, since DRM protections, while not foolproof, are clearly more than what Android offers.

For every one tech-oriented geeko who prefers an open platform, there are atleast a dozen non-techy types who don't even understand the term "walled garden".

The regular innovations of Apple ensures that they have a steady stream of new devices; the media promotes these devices; and the old devices do not die, but have a resale value. So, while the consumer may change the device, all that happens is that Apple gains a new consumer, for both old and new content (as far as capability allows).

Google's move may be a smart one, and may even generate enough revenue to subsidize it's purchase, but it is clearly far from being an Apple killer.

Apple iPhone 5 to sport CRT-style screen

Welcome...

... Mr Stephen Fry. That explanation deserves the title of "fry-ism".

If it does infact have a curved display...

... it will be a conCAVE display, and not a conVEX (eg, like the Nexus S)

New Mac fake-defenders similar to Windows scareware

Err, in that last-but-one paragraph...

"Standing orders, leaked this week, mean that Apple consumer rights people are told to neither confirm nor deny Mac infections."

Apple consumer rights people? Don't you mean "Apple consumer SUPPORT people"?

I don't think Apple consumers have rights anyway; they're all with Apple.

And ElReg has to be a lot more careful with errors like this; or your Appstore proggy can be pulled for "containing errors".

Comcast 'Tweetgate' apology thrown back in face

Principles count for something...

... and principles can be confused for ego only by someone who has no appreciation for principles.

Is Skype Microsoft's PowerPoint part deux?

With the recent...

...acquisition of Qik by Skype, Microsoft finally has a way to attack Apple's FaceTime functionality. FaceTime is an astonishing development; and Microsoft has learnt the hard way not to ignore Apple's services.

Though overpaid, this acquisition will immediately allow MS to step up to the plate in mobile conferencing.

I just hope support for other operating systems (Eg, linux) is not pulled out.

Is there anything to find on bin Laden's hard drive?

How about...

...a new BOINC project to brute-find the decryption key, using idle computing power the world over? Al-Qaeda decryption world wide effort.

Microsoft's IE9: Don't believe the hype

Deeper integration with the OS...

... is a repeated, and terrible, mistake.

The OS is the OS, and the browser the browser, and never should the twain mix. Even in Chrome OS, the browser is separated from the OS layer, and designed to run "applications" within the browser's ecosystem. Firefox doesn't try to "insinuate" itself into Windows Explorer.

Microsoft is trying too hard to mix the browser into it's OS, and that is a repeated mistake; maybe it's worried about it's browser's disappearing market share?

Microsoft lands big handbag on Google's copy kisser

Hey, here's an idea...

why not just post a permanent tagline, "We hate Google" and be done with it? Google suspects misuse, tests for misuse, finds misuse, reports misuse, complains about misuse, and all this article says is that it's OK for Google's results to be misused since Google copies stuff too.

Really? Someone rips you off, and you decide that the correct thing to do is to go and rip someone else off?

And by the way, it's "vetting" not "wetting".

Gatwick Airport security swoops on 3-inch rifle

Incredible...

detail and scale accuracy. Anyone would get confused. NOT.

What riles me the most...

... is the canned statement from the "spokeswoman for Gatwick airport", which totally sidesteps the idiocy of the action and puts the context in the same category as actual offenses.

Too many do this ("canned statements") nowadays. Let's administration get away with anything. Dismiss everything, no need to explain or learn and improve.

Looking in the coat to see if any common sense is left...

Delicious, Yahoo! Buzz, MyBlogLog, AltaVista all face axe

As mentioned earlier...

... I believe that Yahoo is sinking and sinking fast. This only lends credence to my belief.

If Yahoo wants to survive, they better position someone with vision (preferably the person currently in charge of Flickr) before they close up every possible service (Eg, Geocities, Auctions, Briefcase, et al).

Whoever is in charge of Flickr is thinking out of the box and innovatively, and probably has the ability to pull yahoo out of it's current quagmire.

Yahoo! axes 600 jobs

The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

Yahoo! is dying and started dying when they refused a very generous takeover offer from Microsoft. They've closed Yahoo! Auctions, Geocities, briefcase and a whole lot of other services, instead of attempting to monetize them; Yahoo! Auctions was a serious competitor to ebay.

With both Google and Microsoft offering free IMAP/POP access to Webmail accounts, yahoo mail is looking jaded and outdated. Google's googletalkplugin allows users to audio/video chat with other gmail users, even in linux and firefox. This means I stopped using Yahoo's IM a long time back (using Skype in the intermediate period before talk plugin became available).

They've even given up on their core search technology.

Yahoo! is going the way of AOL. Once a powerhouse, now reduced to a shell of it's former glory. You cannot cut services and expect business to expand, especially when all the world is out expanding options for users. Yahoo! has to intelligently monetize, which they seem incapable of doing, and hence are headed the way of the dodo.

Everything that Yahoo! is doing seems to be done better elsewhere. Personally, I believe that Yahoo! is simply living on dole. They cannot even think of ways to reward user loyalty (eg, Google's AdSense free credits) and so their user base is effectively being leached away, slowly but surely.

Their much-hyped "local search" efforts are just as surely going down the toilet, because they seem to be incapable of selecting suitable and/or capable partners, who can deliver solutions and advice and help expand business for local businesses.

In my opinion, using Yahoo!'s services are currently akin to floating along on an ocean on a rapidly melting ice-floe. It's gonna let you down, and you should be able to see it coming.

HP builds touchscreen Linux PC for India

I don't think it will be linux...

...it's more likely to be WebOS.

And for those who consider 20K INR to be cheap, you can pick up a full Core2Duo w/ 18.5" LCD monitor for that price here. Add it about 5K for Windows Ultimate (or, nothing in most cases, since piracy is rampant).

Nexus One resuscitated as 'Pure Google Nexus S'

"S" is for...

... SuperMan (SuperPhone?)!

PARIS laid bare in intimate snaps

The wheel, sliced bread...

and duct tape. The best inventions, and look what they lead to. Cheers on excellent results.

PARIS HAS LANDED!!! Epic supra-atmos flight ends

PARIS spaceplane disappears...

Yup, it's gone on to introduce humanity to the rest of the universe... congratulations... for what? For the endeavor.

Wikileaks outs 400,000 classified Iraq War docs

There's some good too...

...in true WikiLeaks fashion, the reports are unbiased and (mostly) untampered. While everyone may cry foul, there are some reports that show the good that Americans are doing as well (Eg, some interventions of American soldiers to prevent torture of civilians in police custody). These are being overlooked in the mass hysteria of "bad" or negative reports.

War has it's good and bad sides; but often both these sides are ignored to show a third side: the sensational (mostly falsely sensational).

Google spits back at Oracle's Android suit

My Samsung Spica...

... is an 800Mhz, 256MB, 480x320 desktop computer. What's all the fuss about?

Touchscreen iMac rumor snuffed

Maybe...

Sintek doesn't know about Apple rules. However, touchscreen iMacs are coming; it's a given. It's the next natural step, and of course, there's that damnable patent filing showing a new paradigm in desktop monitor handling.

Maybe Apple may be recreating the MacOS to make it more touch- suitable/friendly. They don't rest on their laurels.

It's coming; if I could, I'd bet on it.

Man ordered to pay Facebook $1bn

Guess..

..whose networth just shot up by $1Bln? Hint: Look under the "Accounts receivables" heading...

There's nil chance of collecting, but hey; an asset is an asset. Hooray for the black-n-white world of accounting.

Nigerian perv scanners lay Lagos ladies bare

Unfortunately...

I CANNOT SEND THE SCANNERS AS ONE PISE DUE TO EXPORT REGULATIONS FROM THE MINISTRY OF SENSITIVE ITEMS RE-EXPORT RESTRICTION RULES. SO WE HAVE DIS-ASSEMBLED THE ITEMS INTO VARIOUS COMPONENT BOXES AND HAVE KEPT IT READY FOR SHIPMENT. PLEASE SEE http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/12/01/article-1090853-02A74237000005DC-206_468x707.jpg FOR THE PICTURE OF DISASSEMBLED SCANNERS.

NOW MY FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD BARRISTER MR ROGER GLOSSY POLISH FROM NAJI REGION WILL CONTACT YOU BY EMAIL TO SEND YOU THE PAPER THAT YOU HAVE TO SIGN IN WHICH IT STATES THAT YOU ARE RECEIVING REFRIGERATOR SPARE PARTS AND NOT SENSITEVE CKD (COMPLETELY KNOCKED DOWN) ITEM OF SCANNING FOR FULLY BODY USE. YOU PLEASE DO EVERYTHING HE SAYS IS A VERY MEANING MAN AND NOBODY CAN DO BETTER THAN HIM TO SAY TO THE GOVERNMENT...

oh what the hell. Lost patience. And don't want to delete so much typed stuff. I laugh, you laugh and we all go and peek at 419eater.com. Time better spent.

Cheers.

HELLO I AM DR EDMOND DANTES...

MAY THE BLESSINGS OF THE GOOD GOD BE UPON YOU.

I HAVE A CONFIRMED CONTRACT TO SUPPLY 40 (FORTY ONLY) FULL BODY SCANNERS TO NIGERIA AIRPORT, BUT SINCE REPORTS OF THEIR MISUSE, THE AIRPORT HAS SUSPENDED DELIVERY. I HAVE BEEN PAID AND THE ITEMS ARE NOW REPOSSESED AS PER CONFIRMED DELIVERY CONTACT TERMS.

NOW, I OFFER YOU THESE MACHINES ARE VERY DISCOUNT PRICE TO SELL FOR YOUR AIRPORT. MY CONTACT WILL PURCHASE THE MACHINES FROM YOU AT 30 TIMES (THIRTY ONLY) THE PRICE YOU BUY IT FOR FROM ME.

SINCE HE IS MY REGULAR CONTACT YOU NEED NOT WORRY FOR PROBLEMS AND AFTER SERVICE OF SALES.

PLEASE SEND BY WESTERN UNION USD 40,000 FOR 40 NOS OF FULL BODY SCANNER.

(For the clueless, this is a scam-format message. Do not send any money anywhere.)

Google open sources JPEG assassin

What exactly does Google have to do...

... so that people will stop believing it's every action is "evil?" Reminds me of xkcd's "Password Reuse" strip.

So, it's done a bad thing by opensourcing this format? Here's something it COULD have done to generate revenue: Held the format closed source, or ensure an encoding license requirement or so, then used it's ubiquity to allow the format to display in browsers, then ensured that only it's ads are in the fast-loading format. Anyone else trying to use the "fast loading" format will have to pay Google a license to do so. What would you write in this case?

Spewing your vitriol at every Google development is neither fair nor reporting. Yes, it's trying to leverage it's revenues; at least it is open about it. You don't like it, use Bing. Do you think they do not collect your data? Or hey, here's a thought: Go Facebook. I'm SURE they are better than Google.

Everyone but Oracle demands Java independence

Oracle...

... "abstained from voting". ..."Declined to comment".

Sometimes you don't need to run the whole mile to know what's at the end of it.

Google shocks world with unthreaded Gmail

I originally hated "threading"...

...especially the way gmail implemented it; now, I'm so used to it, and find it so useful, that I can't imagine turning it off. I guess it takes all kinds. At least we GET a choice.

Vodafone unveils second own-brand Android phone

Budget handset?...

... the specs don't seem so.

OpenOffice files Oracle divorce papers

A welcome move...

... but I can't see Oracle giving up control over this so easily.

Let's hope that everything goes smoothly... staying tuned.

Apple in 873-page legal claim to word 'Pod'

Censored by Jobs...

... So there I was, sitting in my bachelor p**, enjoying a juicy, shiny red a****. While I was grooving to my latest t****, along came my health-nut girlfriend, saying I should really be eating peas freshly split from the p**s. Just then, I received a p**** call from the boss at my w***place, who wanted to know why the video d** that he had asked for a client was not ready yet. I logged on to the w** and fired up my c*** client, but since my contact was not online, I sent an e-m*** instead. I got a reply while watching a m**** starring Bruce Willis on my t*, but when I clicked on the attachment i***, all I could see was a still p****graph. I double checked that there was no problem with my O*, and then I even checked the b****** disks, but no go. I then tried to take control of my office computer using r***** d******, and sy** my folders, but inspite of having it finish in real q**** t***, as well as using a t*x* ed**or to manually check the list of folders, I was not able to retrieve my wo**. After checking my ***endar, I realized there was no way I could finish up unless I used a t*** m******. I told my boss, who was wild, and booked my on a one way s***** back to b**tc**p.

(This document edited to omit possible and/or probable references to the following Apple (TM) products: iPad, Apple, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iWork, iDVD, iWeb, iChat, Apple Mail, iMovie, Apple TV, Icon Composer, iPhoto, iOS, Apple Backup, Apple Remote Desktop, iSync, QuickTime, TextEdit, iWork, iCal, TimeMachine, Safari and BootCamp. Other words and phrases may or may not belong to Apple Inc, now or in the future. Trademarks belong to original holders.).

Swedish Pirate Party suffers embarrassing general election flop

Perhaps voters...

...are more concerned about "real" issues, such as the economy, jobs, administration, infrastructure etc.

Standing on a plank for a "fairer copyrights" system doesn't tell voters how the rest of the issues are going to be handled.

Maybe they should just aim for being part of a coalition government, with possible postings for departments related to copyright activities.