Posts by se99paj

Feature phones all the rage as parents try to shield kids from harm

I have two little ones so will need to think about phones at some point in the future, for me the problem isn't smartphones its the internet as a whole, giving a child a smartphone gives them complete access to the internet and everything that comes with it.

If they designed a smartphone that could be managed by a parent, similar to who Amazon Fire Kids tablets are managed then I think it would be the best of both worlds - A feature phone is a safe option but there are features they don't have that I would like to leverage

If most punters are unlikely to pay more for 5G, why all the rush?

5G Alternative to Wi-Fi

Would 5G provide an opportunity for large companies to ditch their Wi-Fi?

Our offices with Wi-Fi look neat and tidy without all the network cables on the table, but we still need Wi-Fi access points to be installed & they need to be wired up, so we still have cables but they are hidden.

With the speeds of 5G how feasible would it be to connect to make Wi-Fi redundant?

Does Google make hardware just so nobody buys it?

Re: it's like Vertu only cheaper

Welcome to the consumer world we live in, you can replace your words with any other product that exists on the planet:

There exists a - small - group of individuals who are fanboys. They buy "Something" And they believe these things are cool. At a minimum, cooler, or better than all the other "Things".

Just find and replace with whatever you like, Cars, Music, Vegetables, etc

Re: When you have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Microsoft's mistake was going for the consumer market, they should have focused on the enterprise market. At the time Blackberry was a mess and Apple/Google were focusing on consumers - Deciding to go head to head with Android/iOS was a mistake. They already had relationships with enterprise customers.

Pixel 3, 3XL, Slate tab launch: Google emits swanky iPad botherer while tarting up mobes

Re: errmm...

"Why on Earth would I be interested in buying a Slate?"

Think I have the answer - You're not interested in buying a slate, because Google aren't looking at you as a customer.

Your perspective of value seems to be determined by individual hardware components - Not the complete solution.

I'd expect Google are targeting this at people who are already on the Google ecosystem & those looking to tether their mobile phone. I also don't think they are targeting anyone interested in running Linux distros - As you've already pointed out there are cheaper alternatives so anyone buying a slate for this purpose would be crazy.

Plex plucks media cloud service, sends users scurrying to exit

Re: So what is plex pass for?

"So what is plex pass for? " - Probably suggest going to their website to find out

"Why do I need to login to their system to stream my local files to my local devices? Other than to give them usage data" - Tried to highlight the main point here, but if you want to stream local files to local devices without giving them usage data then don't use their system, its pretty simple really.

Unpicking the Pixel puzzle: Why Google is struggling to impress

Re: Conspiracy theory.

"And the argument 'get the latest Android first' does not appear to be convincing many consumers to take the bait either." - This may have been the case with the 1st Gen Pixel but I don't think its as relevant now that more devices will start supporting Project Treble

"And I don't see Google actively developing the brand as an electronics poowerhouse either." - Spending $1.1B acquiring HTC seems pretty active to me, although not sure how this will impact the future Pixel

Cloud-in-a-box? Bo-ring! How about cloud-in-a-tank?

Very confused

I'm quite confused - Isn't this just a server on a Local Area Network?

Microsoft partners to fling out collabo-visual Ginormonitors this year

Re: The hydra

You could use any TV and connect a Polycom Trio to it.

Google's not-Linux OS documentation cracks box open at last

Re: Call me a cynic....

"Why should anyone contribute to something that is ultimately to make a multi-billion dollar advertising company even richer?"

I'd suspect there is more money in the Google Play Store than Android itself, therefore it would be a pretty terrible business model to make it Open Source, why would they give something away for free that their competitors could re-use to challenge Google? That would be a terrible business model

First there were notebooks. Then tablets. And now ‘book tablets’

Re: Point?

The Android tablet market has been stale for sometime, now that ChromeOS supports Android apps and as ChromeOS is being designed more for touch you can see that the development of ChromeOS is more closely aligned with tablets than Android would be.

As someone that was thinking of a Chromebook as a replacement for my Android tablet I'm interested to see where this is going. Hopefully the first of many ChromeOS tablets

PwC: More redundos at HQ of UK 'leccy stuff shop Maplin

Picked up a cheaper NAS

Although Maplin are pretty well known for being over priced, there are some savings to be had, I've just ordered a new NAS that is about £20 cheaper than anywhere else, its collection only and the last one in the store but can't complain

Breaking up is hard to do: Airbus, new bae Google and clinging on to Microsoft's 'solutions'

Re: New???

Air gap would be required for Secret - but not for Official

Brit retailer Currys PC World says sorry for Know How scam

They aren't all bad

I'm not condoning the behavior of PC World/Currys and I can probably come up with a few horror stories of my own, but every now and again we can get a good experience.

A few years ago my Nexus 9 tablet received an Android upgrade and bricked the device, it was stuck in a boot cycle. I took the tablet back to PC world as it was less than 12 months old, they said it would get sent back to Asus to get repaired and should be back in a few weeks. After a month the tablet hadn't been returned, the Know How rep told me as the tablet hadn't been sent back I was entitled to a replacement tablet at no cost.

Airbus ditches Microsoft, flies off to Google

Re: "Airbus has decided to take a major transformative step"

The physical location of the data doesn't matter, if the company that is storing the data is a US company they could use the Patriot Act to obtain that data, even if its stored in Europe. I don't think this has been tested legally, but companies don't want to take the risk

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patriot-act-can-obtain-data-in-europe-researchers-say/

This is why Microsoft created a datacenter in Germany that is run by a separate Non-US company

https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/11/9711378/microsoft-german-data-centers-surveillance

More money than sense? Saudi Arabia invests $400m in Magic Leap

A Hologram for the King

I think they just watched the Tom Hanks movie - "A Hologram for the King"

Intel's announced PCs packing 5G, and that's just plain wrong

Re: one bill that allows me to access X GB of data from Y devices

@Mage - Think you're missing the point, I'm not saying that mobile will replace broadband. What I'm saying is that both of these capabilities will be offered by a single service provider, as a consumer you'll seamlessly transition from one to the other.

Re: Consumer use in the UK?

This looks more like a solution looking for a problem.

I don't think its a solution to a problem, more like taking advantage of a future opportunity.

At the moment we have fixed lines going into every home and then breaking out to a local Wi-Fi network, at the same time we have a mobile phone network broadcasting a wireless network across the country. They are different solutions but fundamentally they are both giving my device access to the internet.

As a consumer I've got to pay for both of these services - How long will it be before these services converge? Giving me one bill that allows me to access X GB of data from Y devices from anywhere.

What did we say about Tesla's self-driving tech? SpaceX Roadster skips Mars, steers to asteroids

Re: It was never going anywhere NEAR Mars

No it's not. It's $billions space littering, especially as its orbit now crosses that of Mars, and it isn't sterile and risks polluting the place ruining it for science should it hit.

Unfortunately unless science can provide a profit it will always come second to commercial gains.

So when does dropping litter on the street ever seem funny?

I agree with you, but the simple answer is we have limited space on earth, there is a lot more room in space - "That's why they call it space"

Skype for Biz users: Go watch nature vids. Microsoft wants you to get good at migration

Lets be honest the migration from Lync to Skype for Business was nothing more than a software update to change the branding - If you thought that was a major migration no wonder your worried about Teams.

What's the future for Skype for Business on-premise?

We're already using an on-premise Skype for Business instance but won't be collaborating in the cloud anytime soon - Teams is O365 only.

Engineer named Jason told to re-write the calendar

Re: Can't we get rid of May?

Blair might have dragged us into an illegal war, but at least he didn't completely stuff the country like Cameron and now May have done

Like running up a pretty significant national debt:

https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/7568/debt/government-debt-under-labour-1997-2010/

Whenever we have an election I always remember those words "Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam"

HMS Queen Lizzie formally joins the Royal Navy

Re: "controversy over her £3.5bn price tag"

Or the £12bn we spend every year on UK foreign aid.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure some of that money is going to great causes, but relatively speaking its quite a lot of money

Tech giants at war: Google pulls plug on YouTube in Amazon kit

Re: More of a loss for Google

From my perspective Amazon are winning for different reasons - Everyone I know that has an Echo is also an Apple fan, generally these people wouldn't consider a Google product. Apple fans also tend to have money to burn so they're happy to buy the latest gadget.

I'm struggling to justify why I would want any of these products, its quicker for me to add something into my phone myself then try and get an assistant to do it for me, I really don't have a desire to buy goods from Amazon using voice, I prefer to see what I'm buying first.

Two million customer records pillaged in IT souk CeX hack attack

Is anything safe anymore?

Is anything safe anymore? I guess the answer is "No".

What is safe today will be hackable tomorrow - I realise that companies need to invest in their security, but if their margins are getting smaller they will struggle and hackers will eventually catch up with them.

No, Apple. A 4G Watch is a really bad idea

Target the fitness market

I haven't had a watch for years as I always used my phone, but bought a normal watch earlier this year, I think it looks great and tells the time. That's all I need from a watch 90% of the time.

But I also enjoy running/cycling/going to the gym - An ideal watch would record GPS to track my distance/time, capture my heart rate so I can see how I'm performing maybe even allow me to make use of my Google music subscription and play music to my wireless headphones, if I was really pushing it include Android pay so I can buy a bottle of water or catch the bus home.

I think fitness is their target market, you only need to browse the Garmin products and see how well its working out for them

Life is... pushing all the right buttons on the wrong remote control

Re: HDMI-CEC

Definitely recommend HDMI-CEC, I can control my TV / DVD Player / Kodi (on Raspberry Pi) all from a single remote control (I can use either the TV or DVD remote control). Volume control on my soundbar is also controlled via these remotes. No need for a "Universal Remote" or Harmony remote.

I've been told numerous times that HDMI-CEC is for amateurs, but does exactly what I need it to do.

Who's behind the Kodi TV streaming stick crackdown?

Re: Said it before, will say it again

Are you paying for a subscription service today? If you aren't then quit complaining

You don't get anything for free in this world, so if you're not investing in a service don't come here complaining that the service isn't very good. Companies need money to pay for better services and need usage data to make sure they are showing the movies people want to see.

Millions of Brits stick with current broadband provider rather than risk no Netflix

Think I will change every 18 months

I changed last year from BT Unlimited to Sky, saved myself quite a bit of money as I downgraded the speed, got quidco credit and have a new customer offer for 12 months.

Think I'll change every 18 months from now on, paying full price year on year doesn't make sense to me. If the service is rubbish with the new provider switch back within the cooling off period.

I did give BT an opportunity to keep me on as a customer but they weren't interested - and I'm not really surprised if so many people too scared to switch.

Emulating x86: Microsoft builds granny flat into Windows 10

Re: How long before Android/Chrome catches up?

"Except most Android apps aren't business-oriented, built around internal networks, keyboards, mice, and so on"

You're right they probably aren't, but I bet the number of business orientated mobile apps is increasing as companies look at "mobile first" strategies. Once you have the programming logic in place then designing the GUI for different interfaces isn't that difficult, its been done for websites for years. I agree with you on the lack of productivity apps, but you're talking about today, I'm talking about the next 3-4 years.

I agree on the high performance gaming, but for slightly different reasons. There has been a dark cloud hanging over PC gaming for years, console gaming seems to be taking the market share (Just to be clear I prefer PC gaming and don't own a console). But now Windows 10 and Xbox one share a common platform I'm hoping this will change. High performance gaming developers have no interest in Android, only consoles.

How long before Android/Chrome catches up?

I completely understand what Microsoft are trying to do from a strategic perspective and if they can pull it off it would be great. But I can't help think that they are bringing with them so much extra baggage compared to other OS providers that they won't be able to achieve their goals.

Chrome OS supports Android apps and developers seem to be happy creating new Android apps instead of converting legacy Windows apps - Google seems to be getting in a better position than Microsoft.

Fintech startup Revolut pulls out of several countries, promises swift return

Great App

Just returned from a 2 week holiday using their card/app, thought it was really good and never had any problems. I was quite impressed how easy it was to use and how well the app was designed.

Although, even though I'm in the UK I might transfer the last £100 back into a bank account.

New phones rumoured as BlackBerry cans BB10 production

Bit of a prediction

If Blackberry had any sense they would look at modifying their Android version to provide an experience as close to the current Blackberry experience as they can get.

Personally I'm not a fan of Blackberry devices, but for those that are it would hopefully be enough to keep you happy, plus gives you some additional benefits at the same time.

FBI Director defends iPhone 5C unlock tool that's obviously going to leak into wrong hands

Different perspective

I have a slightly different perspective.

The FBI asked Apple to help exploit a single iPhone 5C, Apple would complete the exploit and provide the unlocked device to the FBI. How that device was unlocked would remain within Apple.

Apple made a choice not to provide this exploit and therefore forced the FBI to look at alternative options, there is no reason for these options to be bound to a single device. The single device was only a requirement of the Apple court order that the FBI submitted.

Why would the FBI intentionally contact Apple, asking them to fix an exploit, that they wanted to leverage. Its like getting the keys to a safe and then asking the owner to change the lock. If Apple provided their support from the start then they'd still have the keys and they would only be giving the FBI an unlocked safe.

After-dinner Mint? Stylish desktop finale released as last of the 17 line

Re: Linux & Games

Completely agree - there are some games available on Linux and its great to see some the developers go this way, but I'm probably interested in 2/3 of those games the ones I'm interested in purchasing like CoD or fallout are all Windows.

In an ironic way, the exact reason why I won't move from a Windows PC to Linux is the same reason I wouldn't move from Android to a Windows phone, there are some equivalent apps on the other platforms but they aren't the apps that I want to use.

Re: Linux & Games

I dabbled with Play on Linux but didn't have any success, it was definitely trial and error to try and get the games to work. Even with the website providing configurations/hint/tips how to get games to work I still rarely had any luck.

Re: Linux & Games

As far as I can tell the SteamOS is just another Linux distro, you'll only be able to play Linux games not Windows games.

Don't get me wrong, I'm supporter of SteamOS and think it would be great if they can pull it off, but they can't do it on their own and need the support from other vendors.

Linux & Games

I currently have an Ubuntu box setup as my media centre PC and as I've had this running for a fair few years I'd like to think that I have a bit of experience using Linux.

I dabbled with Mint for about 6 months a few years back, I couldn't reinstall my copy of Windows 7 and didn't want to fork out for Windows 8 at the time so thought I'd try and make the move to Linux.

Seem to recall the install being fairly trouble free and found it easy to find Linux alternatives for most of the productivity apps that I use, the only issue I had was regarding my USB wireless which dropped connection periodically.

But in the end I moved back to Windows because a vast majority of the games I wanted to play would only work on Windows. I recall trying to use WINE and some other software to get them to work but never had any luck. If you can get AAA games to be compatible with Linux out of the box then that would be the nail in the coffin for Windows.

CIA boss uses AOL email – and I hacked it, claims stoner teen

Re: When...

I'd 2nd that - as it says in the article no classified documents were leaked, granted the completed security application hold a lot of "Personal" data but nothing that is going to be a risk to national security.

HTC shedding 15 per cent of workforce in 'strategic realignment'

Where will I go next?

Very disappointed to hear about HTC, I know its been on the cards for a while so not really surprised.

I've been happy with my last 2 HTC phones, so much so in fact that I didn't rush to upgrade my HTC One M7 after the two years (Although the phone was only 6 months old as I had been given a replacement)

I have never had any major issues with my HTC phones - I've also always like the fact that compared to Samsung they were fairly stock android. Any suggestions where else to go?

Four tuner frenzy: The all-you-can-EEat TV Freeview PVR

Re: Mythtv

I second Mythtv - been running mine for years and its been great.

Mind you this device installed with Mythtv would be great, probably cheaper than building one yourself and you can have multiple devices in each room sharing storage. But I doubt EE would ever let that happen.

UK claims 'significant lead' in drones after Taranis test flight

Re: Taranis

Don't think its a like for like comparison between Taranis costs and an F-35, there is only one Taranis Demonstrator and there are 100 F-35's. Therefore all the design and development costs are against a single Taranis, while you spread the F-35 costs across 100 aircraft.

Google gobbles Wi-Fi thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 BEEELLION IN CASH

Very clever

Think Google are very clever here, Thermostats are a cheap £2.00 product installed in houses when they are built and they never get replaced, but with gas/electric bills getting bigger and people becoming more conscious of wasting energy you can replace the thermostat with something more intelligent and start saving yourself money.

Also, an internet enabled thermostat is one step closer to complete home automation, it might not become mainstream for the next 5-10 years but when it does become mainstream Google will make a significant amount of money.

No sign of Half-Life 3 but how about FOURTEEN Steam Machine makers?

Re: for me it works but who knows about everyone else?

My thoughts exactly, was looking for a small mythtv frontend to sit under the tv.

Would be perfect to build a small gaming rig under the tv that can also be used as a frontend.

Re: Very few decent games for linux on Steam

I really like the idea of SteamOS, the fact that its free and Valve are letting you do what you want. I'm also very interested in a steam machine as it will take the headache out of building my own PC (Don't get me wrong I enjoy the challenge but hate it when something doesn't work).

But this will only work if Valve can get popular games to work on Linux, at the moment there are only a limited number of games available, only a small number I'm interested in. For example when the next COD game is launched I want to play COD, I don't want to play something that looks like COD.

They need to get the publishers on board so any new games work on SteamOS almost straight away, or not long after. Also they need to let us know what will happen to everyones back catalogue of games, I have 50-60 games on Steam will any of them ever work on SteamOS?