* Posts by Phil.A

15 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Sep 2010

Judge: Apple must run ads saying Samsung DIDN'T copy the iPad

Phil.A

I laughed SOOOO hard!!!

While I found this INCREDIBLY funny, maybe the judge should have said "you have to stop these stupid frivolous law suits" because they're just stupid, especially Apple saying "Samsung copied our copyright of big black rectangle"

Hopefully they'll stop this legal BS now and everyone can get on with innovation rather than throwing their toys out of their prams!

Startup pitches £64 hackable Android console

Phil.A
WTF?

but Android is touch screen interface...

unless they decide to use Android phones/tablets as a touch interface for games, then what's the point?

ALL games currently in the Market Place/Google Play, require a touch interface and are aimed at a touch interface, so doing this is kind of redundant unless they make a whole ton of games aimed at this & Xperia S

Apple CEO: 'Amazon Fire didn't dent our sales'

Phil.A

only an idiot would think that the Kindle Fire was a direct competitor to the iPad - it's like saying that the Ford Focus is a competitor to a Ferrari!

The Kindle Fire costs £200, and is less than 40% the power of the iPad2

The iPad2 costs around £500

you pay for what you get - if you can afford an iPad, you buy an iPad, if you can't, you will buy something cheaper, or buy nothing at all

anyone who already owns an iPhone will naturally buy an iPad, because you can install your apps directly onto it, and you're already tied into the "pay for everything" attitude, but if you have an Android phone, you'll buy an Android tablet, and if you have a Blackberry phone, you MAY buy a Playbook

High Court reinstates Oz Galaxy 10.1 ban

Phil.A
Thumb Down

Apple are looking like idiots because of this

I am hating Apple more and more with these stupid law suits - the only similarity between the 2 devices is that they're flat with a screen taking up most of the surface, apart from that the similarities are virtually none...

the iPad has a 4x3 screen, the Tab has 16x9

the iPad has 1 button, the Tab has 4

the iPad has 1 slot, the Tab has 3

if Apple wants to push that other tablets look too much like the iPad, then companies that were producing tablets before the iPad release should push to stop the sales of the iPad since they "copied" their design...

Apple are also complaining that Android "looks too much like iOS", well, it does until you actually USE the device - Android has so many features that iOS doesn't that the similarity stops at "you touch icons and the apps go full screen"

I REALLY want Nokia and Sony Ericsson to push against Apple on the iPhone because they copied the idea of having a mobile phone, putting a camera on the phone, making the camera having video recording (although Apple were late out of the gate on this one)

Apple seem to forget that competition breeds development - they want to be able to stagnate the market and let people believe that "good enough" is what a smart phone should be, rather than pushing the bleeding edge of development to show what is capable on these devices!!!

Amazon Kindle Fire

Phil.A
Facepalm

A few points from this article...

The screen is no "retina" display, but text is clear and smooth

Neither is the iPad, so why comment on it not being a retina display? No, it's not as good of a screen as the iPhone or even the Google Nexus, but neither are any of the tablets...

An e-book reader at heart?

Erm, no, it's a tablet - no e-book reader has a battery life less than a week, let alone a month (like the "proper Kindles"

Like most Android/iOS devices, it CAN be an e-book reader, but it's not its main function, at heart it's a (limited app list) tablet, meaning it is meant for a little bit of browsing, a little bit of media consumption, a little bit of reading (short term), and a little bit of messing about with apps - I'd REALLY like a review like this to be done on the iPad, and compare it to REAL e-book readers... just because this is branded "Kindle" doesn't mean it does exactly the same as other Kindles, it's just a brand name!

none of the films I dropped in were detected by the tablet's Video section

Maybe if you drop them into the correct folder, it might help - did you look for the right folder or just drop them in the root? At heart Android plays videos from a "gallery related" folder, and if you put anything outside of that then it'll be ignored (ICS reads from "Movies" too), also, did you put them in MP4 format? Complaining about user error on putting videos on a device is hardly a real complaint!

I get sick of people comparing devices with things that they're not meant to be compared to, like a review I read of the ASUS Transformer to laptops, when it's a slightly more powerful tablet that can have a keyboard...

Despite Android lead, iOS devs slurp scads more mazuma

Phil.A
Meh

two different discussions...

OK, here goes on two differing topics:

Android has a larger market share because manufacturers will put Android on REALLY low-end phones, so people have Android when they don't even realise it - take phones like the Wildfire S, it's small, low-powered, has a low res screen, and a small memory, but it comes free with a £15/month contract... people think "I can get a phone that does nothing or a smart-phone for the same money, I'll take the smart-phone thanks", so they get Android and never do anything with it...

Apple phones cost more, but are a BIG fashion statement - you see more people with iPhones who want to "appear trendy" (look at the hipsters), they care more about how they look than what the phone does (Android obviously has the better technology push, but iOS is "more stable")

One of the main reasons that developers make more money on iOS is that App Store users are more likely to pay for an app than Market Place users are, because there are more free apps on the Market Place, so iOS users have less choice - buying crap-tastic apps for stupid money while a free alternative is on Android! Look at the top seller Xmas a couple of years ago, it was a fart app, all it did was make a stupid noise when you touched the screen, but people bought it because it was "funny" (for about 10 seconds), but it made the developer TONS of money

Next, it's EASIER to develop for iOS - there are really only 3 screen resolutions to develop for - iPhone 3G(S), iPhone 4(S) and iPad... while Android has TONS of different resolutions, not just on phones but throw in the tablets and it gets insane, even similar resolutions have to be catered for (take the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Nexus, 1280x800 and 1280x720 respectively), so it takes a TON more work to decide what your app will work on

All in all, to make more money, for less work, even though the initial license costs more ($25 for Android, $99 for iOS), and the launch restrictions are harder on iOS, it's EASIER to develop for iOS than it is to get a good quality app out for Android! It's simple math - less effort + more willing customers = MORE MONEYS!!!!

Another issue with Android is that it's down to the manufacturers to release new versions of Android to their phones, and since most "skin" the OS, it's more work for them to deal with older phones than to concentrate on where the money is - new phones & customers!

It's not Google's fault that manufacturers throw their OS on ANYTHING, but it's the manufacturers fault for not allowing their users to upgrade to newer OS versions!

Kindle Fire demand hits iPad rivals not iPad

Phil.A

Does most purchases make something the best?

According to articles like this one, the iPad MUST be the best because more iDiots buy them, and a very small percentage probably use them for more than just browsing...

If you say "most sales means the best" then McDonalds MUST be the best food available, right? Oh wait, it's not, it's rubbish food that makes you fat!

Let's not forget that the Fire doesn't have the standard Android Marketplace, instead it only has Amazon's one, which means you can't get ALL Android apps, only the ones that they choose, kind of like saying "I like Android for the flexibility, but let's buy one that isn't flexible at all" - it's cheap but limited

Personally I'd rather have a Transformer, but I already have a netbook, laptop and a Galaxy Nexus, so at the moment there's little point in a tablet - if I want to type, I'll use a keyboard, not loose half of the screen real-estate while doing it :-P

Chief rabbi: Steve Jobs' Apple lust spreads misery, despair

Phil.A
Meh

What he's basically saying is "it's a fashion accessory"...

The main reason that so many iPhones sold isn't because people want the functionality, it's because it was the "in device" - people wanted to look trendy, and so they HAD to buy it, no matter how much then had to spend

Look at how many hipsters have the iPhone, and wave them about when they're out, is it because of the functionality of the device? NO, it's because it's the "must have" trinket

iPhones aren't primarily phones, they are accessories - most are probably only used for calls, texts & music, with a little bit of browsing, and you can do that on virtually any (slightly) smart phone on the market... just because it's sold LOADS doesn't mean it's the best, only that the flock follow along...

Bug silences Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Phil.A

happened once on my Galaxy Nexus

I've had the phone since Friday, and only once seen it drop, and almost "at ramdom" so I thought I had accidentally hit the button

so far I've not noticed any major problems with the phone

@MattW, what is it doing to me? nothing of note as I was using the phone (not on a call) when the volume dropped, so not much effect on what I was doing at all

for usage of the GN though, the face-unlock is brilliant (especially to show off), the panoramic photos are A-MA-ZING!, the multi-tasking is superb (got to be seen to be believed), the new diary/calendar widget is brilliant, but I'm yet to try the video rental (mostly because rip & copy), overall though I can't fault the phone

for people who say "bought an iPhone", enjoy it, because I prefer having the additional functionality that truly is bleeding edge rather than Apple's "2 years behind everybody else" OS...

Apple shouldn't bother with TV...

Phil.A
Trollface

Something wrong with this article

With the abundance of articles about Jobs recently, there's something wrong with this one - it's not majorly kissing the ass of Steve Jobs!

Does a TV need Apple's input? For the fanbois or those who must have the latest (and hideously expensive) gadgets to show off to everyone and anyone, then they'll want one, just for the little Apple logo, no matter how useless it is (like seeing someone talking on an iPhone, and then pulling out an iPod Touch to listen to music on!), but for those of us who are in the real world, a big resounding NO!!!!

With the other devices that provide streaming content (like media PCs, consoles, etc), Apple would be INCREDIBLY late to the market, and not only that, but you're bolting the 2 items together when they don't need it - you get more flexibility from having a TV and a separate play-back device, but nobody said that Apple entheusiasts want flexibility, they prefer being hand-cuffed and told how to think by Apple's UI - yes, simple to use, because it does so little and is so restrictive

I personally like to be able to view things how I want to view them, so if I want to watch YouTube, I'll watch it, if I want to watch iPlayer, I'll watch it, if I want to be restricted to iTunes, and have no Flash, then I'd have to have a labotomy first, and then I'd buy Apple products :-P

Give me freedom of choice, give me paying a reasonable price, give me separate devices for my separate needs, and so give me NOTHING made by Apple...

Tesco's iPhone app gets barcode reader

Phil.A
FAIL

iPhone only???

What's with all of these articles saying "iPhone only" on things like this?

The new iPod Touch 4G comes with a camera, runs iPhone apps and has 3G connectivity (yes, Apple lieing within branding again), so why can't this run the same app?

Oh, and as for the "required" £200 outlay, the 8GB version is currently available for about £185 with a discount that they're currently doing (via Amazon), so it's marginally cheaper than the Palm Pilot price, even though if you count inflation, that'd be worth about £400 or so now :-P

Google sticks goggles on the iPhone

Phil.A
FAIL

Credit where it's due

I love the way that you're picking on the search that is obviously still in Beta, and the only search of it's kind that will allow you to look for information on items by a photo alone.

How exactly are you going to do a text search when you don't know what you're looking at, and want to find out information? You use Google Goggles, that's how!

Every book that I've looked for using Goggles has come up, every album too, even the more obscure ones in my collection.

Try actually appreciating the product for what it can do, and then maybe pick on the other companies for them failing to achieve the same thing...

Facebook fone? Feh, says Facebook

Phil.A
FAIL

Just think of the integration...

If they do make a Facebook Phone, just think of the amazing new levels of integration you'll get...

Sending a text message, and the (hard to find) permissions will automatically post it to your Wall.

You'll be able to "Like" a test message and it'll make a public post about it.

Sharing your phone contacts with all of your FB friends without your knowledge, until you realise that 3 levels deep there is a permissions option which stops it.

What joy it'll be to use!!!!

Jailbreak hole in iOS 4.1 will be hard to close

Phil.A
Jobs Horns

I thought it was legal now...

I remember seeing something that Jailbreaking was now meant to be legal on iPhones, with the whole "it's your property, so you can do what you want with it" theory.

Apple know that the teams working to break the phones, so them trying to stop them is King Midas trying to stop the tide...

Jobs takes swing at Google over Android activations

Phil.A
Jobs Horns

Really???

"other technology companies did not seem to understand that consumers didn't want a computer in their living room."

That's funny, because realistically my Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii are all effectively computers.

Not to mention that I use my laptop in my living room (as does my girlfriend).

If people don't want a computer in their living room, why are Apple selling the Mac Mini? It has HDMI output. Isn't that for use on a TV? And aren't they encouraging people to put them in their living room?

The Fruity Fuhrer dictating how people should be using their technology again!