Posts by cloudgazer

O2 best placed to scoop new iPhone sales dosh

Given how crap O2 is I suspect that their fruity phone users will be just as likely to switch to Voda as to stay. One consumer advantage of the iPhone is that it's exactly the same model and experience with every carrier (ok, every carrier but Verizon) - unlike other handsets which have random and generally deleterious carrier 'customization'.

Ellison: 'There'll be nothing left of IBM once I'm done'

Also, once he's finished with IBM and HP his death=ray will be complete and he will destroy Metropolis!

Google OUTBID on g.co.uk at auction

I wonder if google bid 'g' for g.

HTC Android handsets spew private data to ANY app

The best part is definitely the help menu. I mean it's bad enough that HTC put a back door on their OS so that they can spy on you, but then to add a help menu to facilitate any other bozo spying on you - that's just classic.

Samsung offers Apple TOP-SECRET peace deal in Australia

The issue isn't with selling an infringing product, if it were than Google would be home free against Oracle since they don't sell Android. The issue is with the infringement itself. If Samsung makes an agreement with Apple not to infringe in Australia, and then breaks it - then Apple will be able to go back to court, as well as to demand any damages stipulated in the agreement itself.

MS was different because they'd actually licensed much of Apple's IP for windows 1.

From wiki:

'Apple listed 189 GUI elements; the court decided that 179 of these elements had been licensed to Microsoft in the Windows 1.0 agreement and most of the remaining 10 elements were not copyrightable'

Adobe: crashing 100 million machines not an option

No point rewriting it now though, just let it die for christ's sake.

UK punters happy to pay £3 to top up e-wallets

7 million of us in London already use an e-wallet thanks, and we absolutely don't pay for top-ups. If they tried to charge £3 for every oyster top-up there would be riots all over again!

Sony Vaio SB 13.3in notebook

There are technical problems taking the higher DPI of mobile phone screens to laptop sizes - for starters you have a simple mathematical problem with yield. Quality standards for LCD screens may be able to tolerate a few dead pixels, but even a single hot pixel is generally reason to reject a panel. Quadruple the pixels on a display, you quadruple the rejection rate.

It will come eventually, but the problem isn't with the systems builders, it's with the panel makers..

Sony have been using chiclet keyboards for as long as Apple, maybe longer. This keyboard has a significantly different layout to a Mac, and the recessing is about as different as it could be.

There seem to be plenty of reasons in this review to not buy this laptop (90 minutes battery life!), but looking too much like an MBP really isn't one of them

Life-size Lego assault rifle really works

'Fishes' is also a valid plural in some contexts.

Apple victorious: Courts deny hackintosher's final plea

Yes, because the Sherman Act would then Apply

Way back in the 90s there was a 'Finding of fact' as part of the MS anti-trust complaint which determined that MS did indeed have a monopoly in the desktop operating system market.

This means that the Sherman Act applies to their actions in that market, where such actions would seek to extend their monopoly. If MS were therefore to start making PC hardware and to refuse to license windows to other OEMs, that would fall squarely into the frame of the Sherman Act - and would be a criminal offence. .

Apple has no monopoly in desktop OS, so the situation does not apply. .

It makes perfect business sense when you realize that Apple doesn't make profits on OS sales, they make profits on hardware sales. This is pretty extreme in the case of Lion which costs about $30, and that's for a full installation, not an upgrade - and not even a single machine installation - you can use it on multiple machines in a residential household. It's not even just a desktop edition, it comes with the full server edition. For $30.

So the difference is that MS lets you license windows for anything, but the licenses are extremely limited - generally locking to a single motherboard - whereas Apple restricts the category of devices that OS-X can be placed on, but gives an extremely broad license so that Apple users have fewer license headaches to worry about.

We never speak of the mouse.

Apple to Oz court: ‘Our products are lame, really’

After filing a patent for a new invention you have 1 year in which to file in other jurisdictions for the same thing. This can be expensive where it entails translations, but it's pretty easy if you're in America to also get patents in the anglophone nations, and it's common to also apply in a few other major world markets such as Japan, France etc.

The article is referring to the patents via their US designation, but there will be a different patent number in Australia, it's just a convenience to use the US patent number when reporting on these things.

PlayBook stock mountain: RIM slashes prices

'Why aren't all the new phones dual- or triple- sim?'

This one actually has a really simple answer, it's because the mobile carriers absolutely hate the idea!

Android outsells Apple 2:1

@craigness

The data does show that Android hasn't taken share away from Apple, it doesn't show that Android hasn't taken share from what Apple would have had if Android didn't exist, but then that's simply too contra-factual to worry about.

Apple sold more units than ever before in the US. It's market is growing there. It almost certainly lost a few users to Android, but then Android almost certainly lost a few users to Apple. Both of them however gained more users from the featurephone market, and from RIM. When your share is growing or steady, you aren't losing share - how hard is that to understand?

Asking how many units Apple would have sold if Android didn't exist is like asking how may angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Actually statcounter breaks the iPad out of mobile, you can see it if you switch to non-mobile by OS and note for the last few months there is an iOS figure of around 1%.

That's the iPad.

See for instance http://royal.pingdom.com/2011/04/20/ipad-used-more-than-linux-computers/

It's not clear if they yet break Android tablets out, if they do they're not big enough to show up yet on the non-mobile figures.

But yes, in the US, iPhone+iPod is approximately the same as all Android.

In the US (where those figures apply), it's Samsung. Globally I it's still Nokia, though their swan-dive is in full progress, so probably not for long.

See for instance

http://www.asymco.com/hire-me/vendor-bubbles/

Are you separating out iPad there or is that all iOS? The reason it's significant is because the use cases for tablets are so different. People will use them for surfing at home over wifi in preference to a laptop - whereas smartphones are very much the browser of last resort.

rounding

They're all rounded to nearest %. Suppose I have 3 firms with equal share, 33.3333% each, rounding to nearest I'd only get a total of 99%.

Erm, no. The 'haters' you mean were presumably Apple haters. They said that Android would take share from Apple, but as the article makes clear, that isn't what is happening. Both Android and Apple are building share in the total handset market. Android is building it faster, so the smartphone segment is growing as a whole. As a result Apple is holding steady in smartphone share. The fact that they're holding steady in the quarter immediately preceeding a big product update is actually pretty impressive.

iPhone sales grew 143% YoY last quarter, the iJuggernaut is still chugging along pretty nicely.

RIM are truly profoundly honked

No, RIM is genuinely hosed. Look at the UBS retention data that got posted a few days ago. UBS was canvassing exactly those wealthy business types, and their willingness to stay with BB had collapsed - only 30% intended to remain with RIM.

This isn't just an artifact of the growing smartphone sector. For example, look at the comscore data, they report the total handset market in the US as well as smartphones. They show RIM dropping from 8.2% of handsets to 7.6% (in current use) in the last quarter. The Nielsen data would suggest that they're now selling around 5.2% of all handsets. 9% of smartphones, smartphones being 58% of the sales.

http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/8/comScore_Reports_July_2011_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share

not the best survey

Comscore arguably have the best US handset survey out there, certainly it's a far bigger population, n=30,000

They show Apple down at more like 24% back in August-2010, but rising steadily since then. They got a big bump when they acquired got distribution through Verizon, and they've slowed in the last quarter, but it's quite possible we'll see them breach 30% with the iPhone-5.

Microsoft to skim Samsung Android takings

I'd say it's the other way round. Unless otherwise specified this is a global agreement. It's pretty clear as to why, because otherwise MS would be left having to sue dozens of grey importers seeking to arbitrage on the different license fees. The only reason that they'd settle on those terms is if they thought they stood no chance of winning, but they seem to like their chances.

No. MS can't give Samsung's non WP7 products protection from Apple. This is just giving Samsung protection from MS.

Pierre Cardin reckons it can out-bling the iPad

Cardin is the poster child for over-licensing of brand names. This baby is going to be up against the galaxy tab and touchpad as expensive failures.

Samsung shifts 10 millionth Galaxy SII

I don't think they're willing to sell the N9 at all, though they may let a few units dribble out after they launch their first WP7 phone. Imagine if they released the N9 and it sold well or better than Sea Ray? Elop would have some serious explaining to do. So they must ensure it fails, in order to demonstrate that there was no choice but to embrace the Beast of Redmond.

Apple don't break out sales by product and region. But given that the market in the US is quite mature their growth is unlikely to have been 140% YoY there, implying it's higher still in the markets in which it competes with the SGS-2, which was pretty much everywhere else.

There are limits to how fast any firm can ramp up supply and build carrier relationships, and Apple has been running up against them - maybe in a few more quarters it will be saturated and we'll see the top Android handsets impact their unit sales, but it hasn't happened yet.

It may be a great phone, it may be selling really well, but it's not making a dent in the iPhone sales numbers.

In the launch quarter for the SGS-2, when it hit 5million units sold, the iPhone sold over 20million. In fact iPhone sales increased over 140% YoY that quarter, the highest Apple had seen since 2009.

So the idea that the SGS-2 is somehow eating Apple's lunch is kinda a stretch.

Red Hat engineer renews attack on Windows 8-certified secure boot

'Anyway the precedent is already in the law so I can do what I want with it'

That's not a precedent, the DMCA exception for mobile phones is just for mobile phones and it sets no precedent - it's a time limited exception which may or may not be renewed - you can't read any more into it than that.

You might be able to get it to apply to a win 8 tablet with integrated 3G (It's a 10inch phone gov'nor honest!) , but not a desktop.

'If MS force this, it will mean that you can't install any of their older OSes on new hardware.'

You can't use existing builds of those OSes no, but there's nothing stopping MS producing a signed version of XP and making it available to enterprise clients. It will screw consumers trying to run old OSes, but mostly MS doesn't believe you have a valid license to your old OS anyway - except running on the old hardware it came with.

Verizon: Samsung 4G ban not in our, er, public interest

That would be amicus brieforum, presuming that briefs are 2rd declension masculine.

Did Samsung release any other phones into the US market between Feb 2011 and the end of June? If not then Apple isn't being selective, they're simply following the rules.

'Interestingly, Verizon Wireless also points out that the bid to ban Samsung devices is only on those products that use next-generation networks, even though the patent at the heart of the dispute covers the way documents can be viewed on devices:'

It's not that interesting, or hard to explain. Apple can't get a preliminary injunction without being able to claim urgency. It can't claim urgency on models that had been out for a long time already. For the most part the more recent models are LTE.

This is exactly the same reason why Samsung is able to go after fast-track injunctions on the iPhone 5 but not the iPhone-4.

Byte-dock MacBook Pro port replicator

Best avoided

The problem with this dock is it can only be used in clamshell mode, and on the newest most powerful MBPs you really aren't going to want to do that. The reason is because the main air intake is the keyboard, so running anything demanding in clamshell can lead to overheating.

See for instance http://www.marco.org/2011/09/20/heat-and-fan-issues-with-2011-15-inch-macbook-pro

I guess if you have the 2010 or older model then it might be ok.

Samsung signals HD smartphones with supersize screens

Missing the key point as usual

The Galaxy S II is SAMOLED+, this newly announced S II HD is only SAMOLED.

Upshot? The subpixel density is the same, the higher pixel density is achieved by switching back to PenTile. C'mon Reg!

Google Wallet and PayPal in electro-purse war

If you do require a PIN and a direct debit to use it then there's no benefit, but most successful NFC systems require neither. The premise then is that you use them for small payments as a substitute for cash - payments where the cost and time to make a debit card transaction would be excessive.

So Oyster cards which were introduced for London Transport, also are supported by some news agents.

Wonder whether we''ll be seeing NFC in the iPhone-5, and if so, which wallet will it be using. I doubt that Apple wants to get into the payments business, anymore than they want to be in the search business - so conceivably we could be in the odd situation soon where there are more iPhone users with Google Wallet than Android.

Paris: Because she understands the value of a good frenemy.

Display defect may crimp iPhone 5 shipments

Apple figured out that by sealing in the battery on devices, whether it be mobiles or laptops, they could increase the available volume for the battery itself - by a significant degree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CKJgaA-ImI

Around the 1minute mark.

Maybe eventually, but we're a ways off that hitting. Even in a big developed market like the US, smartphones are only about 50% of the total market, so there's plenty of room for both Apple and Android to grow. Plus there are all those RIM and Nokia customers with itchy feet.

Apple and Google will continue to grow their markets fast for a good few years yet.

Arghhh WRONG

It's not the displays that Wintek makes, it's just the touch component.

Acer Iconia A100 7in Android tablet

Maybe the reviewer really really likes a 7incher?

45% of Android users to upgrade to rival phone OSes

That's not a fault in the survey - that's a fault in the Reg's journalism. Look at GigaOMs coverage for a better idea of exactly what UBS had.

http://gigaom.com/apple/iphone-owners-very-loyal-blackberry-not-so-much/

Of course the survey is still fairly useless when it comes to Android, because it turns out they only had 51 respondents using Android - but it's not useless for the reason that you thought.

Mostly what this survey says is that RIMM is truly hosed.

You didn't. Last year the biggest survey of this kind was by Nielsen - it showed about 19% of Apple users interested in switching, compared to 30% of Android users.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/iphone-vs-android/

Ancient history now of course, but broadly consistent with UBS.

'Most Android users probably want an iPhone but went for a copy-cat Android because of price.'

Not in this user population they didn't. UBS specifically stated that the sample was of high income consumers.

Samsung plots 3G iPhone, iPad bans in the Netherlands

I don't believe that there was a 3G patent pool, not for all 3G technologies anyway. Instead 3G standards were set by standards bodies such as 3GPP, and all the big participants took part. During that process each participant was required to identify essential patents, and they entered into agreements to license those patents on FRAND terms.

Failure to identify a patent is a serious offence if you participated in the standard - which is why Rambus got roundly spanked over their attempt to put one over the SDRAM guys. If you don't participate though you can still lurk and troll.

For what it's worth Samsung is a member of 3GPP (which established UMTS and HSPA+).

So Apple may not be licensed to practice these patents, and Broadcom (who supply their 3G chip) may or may not turn out to provide them cover - but Samsung would only be entitled to FRAND license fees - something along the same order as Nokia extracted for licensing their GSM patents.

Injunctive relief and FRAND don't mix

It's really hard to see what Samsung is playing for here. Their chance of getting an injunction on FRAND patents is incredibly low - at least in major markets like the EU or US. Injunctions are given when cash cannot be adequate recompense - but if the patent holder is obligated to offer a license for cash cash is by definition adequate recompense.

Faster-than-light back with surprising CERN discovery

'All things start stationary and must be accelerated. '

Good luck accelerating a photon.

HP dumps Apotheker for Whitman

I wonder if HP hopes to win a prize for most CEO debacles in a decade? Maybe they could get that old Apple CEO who used to hide under his desk out of retirement next?