Twitter grows up: Lessons from the Iran experience
It was do or die for Twitter last week. To its credit, it didn't die.
Every promising new technology reaches a point in its life cycle when it either grows up and becomes part of the everyday landscape, or it flames out and becomes a footnote to history.
What Apple will not be delivering on Friday with its iPhone 3G S
If you're an Apple fan, you could also be a ritualistic line-waiter. Cupertino metes out the information, and the rumor mills churn like crazy, causing people to queue up, sometimes completely spontaneously, in hopes of receiving something new and brilliant from the Infinite Loop.
Tomorrow morning, all 211 US Apple Stores and more than 2,200 AT&T corporate stores will begin slinging the new iPhone 3G S to customers eagerly waiting to sink their teeth into a juicy new Apple phone. But if you aren't one of the thousands of pre-order customers, you might want heed the pundits' chants of "evolutionary, not revolutionary," and sleep in your own bed tonight instead of on the sidewalk. Here's why:
Up Front: Should broadband providers offer customers tiered service?
Eric Massa, a freshman congressman from New York's 29th District, introduced a bill yesterday that would keep ISPs -- including those providing mobile service -- from abruptly changing usage rules on accounts or slapping undocumented "we know it when we see it" overage caps on so-called "unlimited" accounts. The Broadband Internet Fairness Act (HR 2902) would require most large ISPs to submit plans to the FTC and undergo hearings if they wishes to institute metering-based plans.
House of Reps examines usage-based caps
Farewell, Centrino...We think we knew ye
Two brands saved Intel from possibly being permanently relegated to also-ran status as an innovator. "Core" is one of them; arguably, the "Core" ideal that thinking smaller can lead to better performance plus power savings, may have saved the company by itself. But there was also Centrino.
And despite that fact, consumers remain confused over the whole question of just what a "Centrino" is. No, mom and dad, it's not the processor...Well, then, what is it, son? The Centrino ideal in 2003 was that a laptop computer manufacturer could base its entire design around a set of chips, most with the Intel brand. The CPU would be at the center of that heap, and six years ago, Pentium M was the CPU Intel had intended, back before Core Microarchitecture revolutionized mobile CPUs -- back then, processor overheating was still a huge issue.
Testimony ends on Day 3 of the Jammie Thomas-RIAA trial
A rogue member of the gallery got cussed out for illicit gadget use, Jammie Thomas-Rasset hit her personal wall, and the jury pondered whether 'tis better to rip than to download as testimony in the RIAA trial of a Minnesota woman concluded on Wednesday.
Jammie Thomas-Rasset was calm and collected on Tuesday. On Wednesday she hit the wall, tearfully recounting the havoc the RIAA has wrought on her life since tapping her originally for a $5,000 payout. (Most citizens contacted with that offer-one-can't-refuse have chosen not to refuse it; Ms. Thomas-Rasset did refuse, and here we are.) She accused Dr. Doug Jacobson, the computer expert who testified Tuesday, of lying (though the jury was instructed to disregard those remarks). She said, again, that she didn't download the music and didn't know who might have, but was steadfast in refusing to pin blame on anyone in particular -- especially her kids.
HADOPI 'three strikes' rule cools its heels after EU parliamentary elections
When last we checked on HADOPI, the French law that would bar citizens from accessing the Net for up to a year after three file-sharing accusations, the French Constitutional Council had ruled the "three strikes" provision unconstitutional, and the Council of Europe had likewise stated that "fundamental rights and Council of Europe standards and values apply to online information and communication services as much as they do to the offline world." Now the Sarkozy administration is working on a new version of the law that addresses the constitutional issues.
If it succeeds in creating something that passes constitutional muster, there's a good change we wouldn't be able to call it HADOPI anymore. That was, or is, the name of the organization that was to administer the program and its three-strikes punishments. In a press release, Minister of Culture Christine Albanel said that the new version would instead put the penalty phase in judges' hands, leaving HADOPI itself to prevent piracy and promote legal downloading.
Solid Oak Software and the Chinese deserve each other
Of all the filtering software makers in all the world, it's interesting and appropriate that Chinese software developers chose Solid Oak Software's CyberSitter to (allegedly) pirate -- not because it's the best out there, but because it's historically hewed the closest to enforcing the kind of heavy-handed control that Beijing likes.
Santa Barbara-based Solid Oak set up a hue and cry over the weekend, saying that China's "Green Dam Youth Escort" filtering software bears unmistakable proof of piracy. Examination of the software and its server logs seems to indicate the company is correct -- aside from the long list of sites to be filtered, there are bits of familiar code and even calls back to Solid Oak's servers. (Chinese officials have flatly denied that any intellectual property was stolen, and a subsequent update to the package eliminated many of the callbacks and other suspect code.)
Now you can expect that 250% speed blast from Firefox 3.5 RC1
Download Mozilla Firefox 3.5 RC1 for Windows from Fileforum now.
Last week, we reported that the first public users of the first Mozilla Firefox 3.5 release candidate could expect two-and-one-half times the speed of Firefox 3.0.10 right after installation. But we also thought that the RC was coming within mere hours. As it turned out, the organization released a stand-in called "Beta 99" instead, with a warning that it may not have received the full array of testing a release candidate should require.
Are cell towers ugly? Ericsson may have an alternative
Where wireless communications company Ericsson usually deals in products meant to be unseen, it has taken a different approach with its new Capsule cell site, and designed a mobile broadband base station that is meant to be seen without standing out.
Even though mobile broadband coverage is in increased demand, property owners and communities are often less than thrilled to have cell towers erected near their homes and places of business. Companies have tried to make the giant towers less obtrusive by hiding them in fake foliage, or in creative architecture, and in urban areas, they're frequently put up wherever there is free space.
iPhone 3.0! iPhone 3G S! iPhone ZOMG!
Just as the eagerly-awaited iPhone 3.0 software update became available, AT&T made an announcement that some subscribers' upgrade eligibility would be bumped up just in time for the iPhone 3G S launch this Friday.
AT&T addressed the subscriber frenzy today and said that any customers who would otherwise be eligible for an upgrade between July and September will be given their upgrade pricing effective tomorrow. This means that rather than make these customers wait one to three months, or otherwise force them to pay the full price of the new iPhone (an additional $200), they will be given amnesty, and be allowed to buy the device at its discounted upgrade price of $399 for the 16 GB model, or $499 for the 32 GB model when it goes on sale on Friday.
Samsung ships new Video Walls
Today, Samsung announced it has begun shipping its UT series of seamlessly stitchable 46" LCD monitors, the company's building blocks for JumboTron-scale displays.
Home theater enthusiasts are frequently presented with 150" and up single screen solutions that are touted as the recurring "pinnacle" of the home entertainment experience, but multi-monitor solutions can deliver just as giant of a screen with only a small gap for the monitor bezel. Samsung's UT series allows dozens of screens to be joined together into huge video walls with only a 6.7mm gap for the bezel between screens.
Tracking Vista's elusive 'Black Screen of Death'
What we've been calling a "perception problem" with Windows Vista -- the notion that users may tend to think it's less secure or reliable than it has proven to be on a large scale -- isn't just about perception for users faced with severe unreliability issues. As a Windows user for over two decades, I have been to the far depths of unreliability, and have lived to tell the tale. Probing the problems with Windows is actually part of my job, and one reason I actually am a Windows user -- unlike the rest of the world.
Yesterday, a problem that's far beyond perception afflicted a 64-bit Vista SP2-based Betanews production system for the fourth time in a year, this time with the remedy being so far out and unusual that everyday users could not possibly have discovered it by normal means. As we've found out, it's a problem that has affected a small number of Vista users since the system's debut three years ago, though that number appears to be growing steadily just as Vista is preparing to vacate the spotlight for Windows 7.
Cell phones aren't a fringe benefit any more, says IRS commissioner
Even though mobile phones are now practically issued at birth, with models designed for children, the elderly and those on public assistance, businesspeople have been subject to a 20-year old tax law that treats the devices as a luxury.
Earlier this month, the IRS issued notice for public comment on simplifying procedures for taxing employer-issued cell phones. The law classifies work-issued cell phones as a fringe benefit that are subject to income tax, and demands that employees keep a detailed record of calls made on their work phones that delineate business from personal use.
Up Front: Google may take a tiny step toward better security
Certain Web standards have been in place since the mid-1990s, since there was a Web. And certain companies rose to prominence by promoting their use. But when it comes time to evaluate which is more convenient, a few microseconds of delay or private communication in the clear, suddenly it's Google that's hiding behind a wall of public relations. Google's listening to its users now, and yesterday it demonstrated that fact, but why all the fuss about this privacy kick everyone's on?
Google considers defaulting to encrypted connections
Boku aims to bridge micropay gap with mobile-phone ease
A just-launched payment service would allow users to make purchases for virtual goods via their mobile phone, rather than by credit card or online payment service. Boku follows a model familiar to many mobile-phone users: an approved charge appearing on one's mobile bill.
Forget your late-'90s memories of Beenz and such; the pay-by-mobile model is already quite popular in Asia, and virtual goods -- an $8 billion annual market, according to Boku -- are a good fit.
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