CSI Stick Snags Data From Your Cell Phone

Earlier in the week I wrote about the massive security hole the iPhone (since then Apple has said it will be fixed in September, which is an update that will be full of fixes, such as these others).

Even without that hole, Pareben's CSI Stick (CSI stands for Cellular Seizure Investigation, not Crime Scene Investigation) makes things even more easier for those wanting to hack your info, at least for those with Motorola or Samsung phones.

As I said before, while some will discount the amount of information stored on a cell phone, as phones get smarter and smarter, more and more information is stored on them. And the information stored on a corporate smartphone is often considered sensitive by companies.

The CSI Stick is about the size of somewhat larger flash drive, and costs $199, but you also need either DS Lite or Device Seizure, two applications also by Pareben, to read the data. DS Lite costs $99; Device Seizure costs $895.

Device Seizure supports reading SIM cards with a SIM card reader, included in the (still additional) Device Seizure Toolbox ($749).

According to the site, CSI Stick is used as follows:

Paraben's CSI Stick is THE portable cell phone forensic and data gathering tool. Paraben's CSI Stick opens the world of digital forensics to anyone needing to gather forensic grade data from cell phones. The process is simple:

• Select the colored cell phone tip for the cell phone model to be acquired
• Plug the portable power adapter into the USB end of the CSI Stick
• Plug the CSI Stick into the cell phone
• Select the data you wish to extract using the slider switch
• Logical Copy - A logical copy gets all available active data (including text and multi-media files)
• Text Filter - The text filter copies all SMS and text messages, phonebooks, and call logs
• Multi-media Filter - The multi-media filter copies all available pictures and movies
• Physical Copy - A physical copy gets all memory on the device (Please Note: This process can take many hours to complete)
• Push the acquire button and wait for the completion indicator
  
• Plug the USB end of the CSI Stick into a PC to be read by Paraben's Device Seizure or DS Lite

Paraben's CSI Stick acquires data that can only be read and analyzed in Paraben's Device Seizure or DS Lite. These advanced forensic analysis tools enable you to view, search, and report on data extracted from handheld devices. The CSI Stick currently supports certain Motorola and Samsung phone models with more manufacturer support coming soon.

Naturally the iPhone is on the short-list of models to be supported.

Unlike USB ports on a laptop (you may recall some companies went to the trouble of glueing closed those ports to eliminate the use of flash drives, and potential leaks), you could not glue shut the data ports on many phones, as they charge through the same ports.

With stuff like this around, does anyone still want a wallet phone?

More HTC Dream Photos Leak

Google's Android platform, and its first incarnation, the HTC Dream, which is rumored to be announced on Sept. 17th, has had more photos leaked. And the photos very much seem to confirm the FCC drawings we've already seen, the more detailed drawings also leaked, and the video which was leaked long ago.

The pictures were first posted on a Chinese language forum.

One thing for sure in the pictures: both the slight tilt noted to the bottom portion of the phone, and the T-Mobile branding, confirmation of the first Android phone on a smaller carrier.

Click the small images below to see the phone in its full glory.

Aardvarks Get More Spam Than Zebras: Study

Email spam got you down? Is your first name Aaron? A study by Cambridge University security expert Richard Clayton shows that the first letter of your email address has a lot to do with the amount of spam you receive.

The study (.PDF), titled "Do Zebras get more Spam than Aardvarks?" analyzed traffic logs from the U.K. ISP Demon Internet. The data analyzed was from the period Feb. 1st - March 27th of 2008.

In the study, Clayton noted that those whose local part of their email address (this is the portion to the left of the "@") begins with "A" receive about 50% spam and 50% non-spam. Clayton called this group aardvarks. When the local part begins with "Z" (call them zebras) about 75% is spam.

You're probably saying, eh? This makes no sense based on what you said earlier. Ah, but it does.

The reason more of the zebra email is spam is because so few actual email addresses start with "Z". Thus, the real portion of email is smaller. If you only look at legitimate email addresses, the picture changes: 20% of email addressed to zebras is spam, 35% of aardvarks is spam.

Clayton's theory over the reason for this difference also makes sense:

At some point, it occurred to the spammers that if john@example.com was a valid email address then perhaps john@another.com was valid as well, so they started to combine local parts (to the left of the @) with other domain names. This method of creating email addresses to attempt delivery to is called a dictionary attack (or sometimes a Rumpelstiltskin attack).

In other words, with apologies to my father-in-law and Zbigniew Brzezinski, there simply aren't that many Zbigniew's around, so they are pretty safe.

It's not so simple as "A" vs. "Z," as shown in the graph above. Email addresses with number starting characters receive even fewer spam emails. Give you any ideas?

Clayton's advice?

Perhaps aardvarks should consider changing species — or asking their favourite email filter designer to think about how this unexpected empirical result can be leveraged into blocking more of their unwanted email.

Google Readies App Store-Like "Android Market"

As the gPhone or Android is Google's answer to Apple's iPhone, so is the Android Market the answer to Apple's App Store. Unlike the App Store, which did not debut until a year after the initial release of the iPhone, the Android Market will be ready, at least in beta form, when the first Android device ships (the HTC Dream).

Of course, Apple had no SDK for its iPhone until just recently, so that kind of explains things, doesn't it?

To qualify a product for the Market, a developer must complete three steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe the content and publish it.

As I said, however, the Android Market may only be in beta form at the launch of the first phones. As such, it may only support free applications.

In a blog post, Google's Eric Chu said:

Developers can expect the first handsets to be enabled with a beta version of Android Market. Some decisions are still being made, but at a minimum you can expect support for free (unpaid) applications. Soon after launch an update will be provided that supports download of paid content and more features such as versioning, multiple device profile support, analytics, etc.

Why call it a Market rather than a Store? Google actually gave a great deal of thought to that.

We chose the term "market" rather than "store" because we feel that developers should have an open and unobstructed environment to make their content available. Similar to YouTube, content can debut in the marketplace after only three simple steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe your content and publish it. We also intend to provide developers with a useful dashboard and analytics to help drive their business and ultimately improve their offerings.

This wasn't an unexpected move. At the Google I/O Conference in May, Google said that it would provide a central "repository" of Android applications.

Blackberry Bold to be Launched Soon on AT&T. When? Depends Who You Ask

According to reports from two different sources, the Blackberry Bold is about to be released on unsuspecting AT&T users. However, when is an open question.

According to Gizmodo, the date is Sept. 12th, and the Bold will sell for $299. While Gizmodo gives a rating of 95% probability on this happening, it's interesting that the leak came from AT&T store employees.

Not exactly the highest-placed or most credible sources.

On the other hand, the Boy Genius Report has a less satisfying, but possibly more realistic date of Oct. 2nd.

BGR says that their info is from a "high-placed" source. That's probably more credible than a store employee. And while Oct. 2nd is more than a month away, it might give AT&T time to figure out the 3G issues that appear to be cropping up on the Bold.

They probably don't want to release another 3G-sucking phone to their network until the iPhone issues are ironed out, either.

Comcast: Metered Usage, But Where's the Meter?

On Thursday Comcast announced a 250 GB cap for their broadband service. I applauded the fact that they finally gave some transparency to their "hidden" cap, which had always snagged a few users, without telling them exactly how much their use should be, but then I realized: where's the meter?

Time-Warner Cable is currently trying out metered service in Beaumont, TX. Their caps are lower, but they do provide one thing: a page you can go to in order to check your usage.

And what's interesting is the response you get if you ask Comcast about any plans for a meter:

Charlie Douglas, who is Director of Corporate Communications for Comcast's Online & Voice Services, and who wrote me back yesterday when I asked about the cap, says the following:

There are numerous free or fee-based meters that are widely available on the Internet to anyone who wants one.

Ah, OK. So if we want to know our usage so we don't go over your cap, we have to pay for that as well?

He's right, you can find meters that you can install on your PC that track your usage. But, ahem, how many of you have only one PC at your home using the Internet? Perhaps some, but plenty of you use a router and have a one or more PCs for your children, a PC for yourself, etc. etc.

Not that easy to track usage if you have to track them across a tool on each PC. I couldn't find anything that could do that. So I guess if I really wanted to track my usage, I'd be pulling out a calculator and manually adding up stats across different PCs.

As I said earlier, the odds of people running up against this cap right now are small. 250 GB is pretty generous. But as more and more "attractions" such as Netflix, Olympics on the Go, and Disney.com pop up, we Americans will inevitably use more and more bandwidth each month.

So Comcast, at least give us a tool so we know when we are going to hit the cap, will ya?

Tethering Deal Between Apple and AT&T Rumored

You'll remember NetShare, the iPhone tethering app that showed up on the App Store a couple of times before vanishing, seemingly forever. The advantage of a tethering app for users is that they could use their iPhone as a modem for their laptop or PC, in a pinch.

The disadvantage for the carrier is all the additional bandwidth required, quite naturally.

A seemingly Steve Jobs-ish email (meaning terse and noncommittal) in response to a user's question seems to point to a possible tethering agreement between AT&T and Apple.

Currently, the Terms and Conditions for AT&T's plans seems to include language that specifically forbids tethering (under the Prohibited and Permissible Uses section):

"Furthermore, plans (unless specifically designated for tethering usage) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device (through use of, including without limitation, connection kits, other phone/PDA-to-computer accessories, Bluetooth or any other wireless technology) to Personal Computers (including without limitation, laptops), or other equipment for any purpose."

There is that little clause about "unless specifically designated for tethering usage," though. Is Apple trying to get such a plan set up for its iPhone?

According to Gizmodo, here's the exchange between the two:

User:

AT&T offers data plans for BlackBerry that include tethering for an additional $30 per month (a total of $60 per month for the BlackBerry+tethering plan).

It seems ludicrous that the same thing is not offered with the iPhone. I understand the desire to prevent tethering with the current data plan, but I am willing to pay more money to allow tethering! With such an advanced device, why can I not do so?

"Steve":

We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

As we know, occasionally an email to Jobs is responded to in the above fashion: terse, and probably from a rep and not Jobs directly. However: "sent from my iPhone" tends to make it a little less credible to me, as that implies it was actually sent from his personal device. Not really likely.

I'd rather see the 3G issues fixed once and for all before a tethering plan is complete. Who wants to tether in EDGE?

Still, why not have such a plan? What about you readers? Would you pay extra for a tethering plan for your iPhone?

Yahoo!'s Mash Gets Smashed to a Pulp

Yahoo!'s Mash, which we wrote about earlier, has joined its earlier attempt at social networking, Yahoo! 360 in the trash heap. Of course, 360 hasn't died quite yet, despite being targeted for "transition" by Jerry Yang late last year.

... we intend to transition Yahoo! 360 to a more integrated Yahoo! “profile” experience ...

An email sent to users of the service, which never left invite-only mode, details the closure:

Warburton also wrote a blog post regarding the shutdown, adding more details about any profile info users might have:

All of the content on your Mash profile with the EXCEPTION of your profile photo, nickname, age, sex and location (if you’ve provided this information) will be unavailable starting September 29th, 2008. If you wish to save any of the information that’s currently available to you on Mash, we strongly recommend that you return to http://mash.yahoo.com immediately and copy the content that you wish to save onto a separate document.

There were a few comments posted to Warburton's blog entry, asking "why?" Take a look at this Quantcast graph, which shows that site traffic has dropped below 2K (unique visitors) a month. That's two thousand. 'Nuff said?

AT&T Source Details iPhone Dropped Call Issues, But Still Leaves Questions Unanswered

Here's another explanation for the problems that the iPhone 3G has been suffering, as detailed by an unnamed AT&T source. Once again, as with some of the other "explanations" and "theories" we have been given to this point, it still doesn't make complete sense.

According to the source, the issue, supposedly fixed in 2.0.2 (and labeled as "bug fixes") was all about "power control" on the device. Note that in the following, phones are referred to as "UE" for user equipment, and the base transceiver station towers as "Node B."

In UMTS, power control is key to the mobile and network success. If the UE requires too much downlink power then the base station or Node B can run out of transmitter power and this is what was happening. As you get more UEs on the cell, the noise floor rises and the cell has to compensate by ramping up its power to the UEs.

If the UE power control algorithm is faulty then they will demand more power from the cell than is necessary and with multiple users this can cause the cell transmitter to run out of power. The net result is that some UEs will drop their call. I have seen the dropped call graphs that correspond to the iPhone launch and when the 2.0.2 firmware was released. The increase in dropped calls were the result of a lack of downlink power.

The power control issue will also have an effect on the data throughput, because the higher the data rate the more power the Node B transmitter requires to transmit. If the UEs have poor power control and are taking more power than is necessary then it will sap the network’s ability to deliver high speed data.

This is one of the reasons why AT&T has been sending text messages to users to persuade them to upgrade to the 2.0.2 software. In a mixed environment where users are running 2.0, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2, the power control problems of 2.0 and 2.0.1 will affect the 2.0.2 users

It is not the network that is fault but the interaction of the bad power control algorithm in 2.0 and 2.0.1 software and the network that is at fault. The sooner everybody is running 2.0.2 software the better things will be. Having seen the graphs the 2.0.2 software has already started to make difference.

If you didn't bother reading the whole explanation, according to this unnamed source, the problem is that the iPhone with 2.0 and 2.0.1 software sucks too much power from the cell towere. And, there are still plenty of 2.0 and 2.0.1 users out there, sucking up said power. If they all updated to 2.0.2, everything would be happy, so they say.

OK, it actually sounds good. But here's an unanswered question: if this is the case, why are other 3G phones on the same tower running just fine? As I've said previously, I can have six or more other 3G phones of the same type within inches of the iPhone (meaning on the same tower) and they do just fine (and I don't mean bars; I mean receiving calls, synching emails, etc. etc. while the iPhone can't even make a call). Why aren't they affected?

Additionally, my experience yesterday, when I was at a hospital and had 3 phones with me (including my iPhone), all dropped into EDGE, yet on EDGE the iPhone wouldn't make a call or browse, while the other two phones were happily receiving emails (and I could make calls on them as well).

These unanswered questions make me doubt this is the full answer to the problem. It's a great explanation, but there are too many holes left unplugged.

Here's the key: Apple, if you would just open up and tell us with an official statement what's going on, all this speculation would end. But that's too easy, right?

Online Photo, Email Save Baby's Life

A photo posted to the Internet, a sharp-eyed trans-Atlantic friend, and email have combined to save a baby's life.

Megan Santos and Madeleine Robb first met through chat on a pregnancy Web site, BabyFit.com, when they were both expecting. Despite the thousands of miles separating them (Santos is in Florida while Robb is in the England), the two became friends, and continued communicating after the births of their daughters, Rowan Santos and Lileth Robb, who were both born on August 8th, 2007.

But when Santos uploaded a picture of Rowan to her BabyFit page, it caught Robb's attention, because of a white shadow in the baby’s left eye (above). It reminded Robb of something, she wasn't sure what, but the word "cancer" sprang to mind.

Robb did research, and learned that the white area could be a symptom of a cancer called retinoblastoma.

On Thursday, Robb was interviewed by Meredith Vieira on the Today Show. Robb said:

"Well, obviously I didn’t want to scare her unnecessarily. But then I weighed out the options. If something wasn't wrong, then no real harm was done. If something was wrong, then I really had no option, so obviously I had to tell her, really."

Robb sent an email on Aug. 7th to Santos, who acted quickly and set up an appointment with Rowan's doctor. The next day, Aug. 8th, Santos was referred to an ophthalmologist, who determined after a series of tests that Rowan did have a cancerous tumor growing on her left retina.

Rowan will unfortunately lose her left eye, but at least she has a chance at life. Retinoblastoma is considered to be one of the most common inherited cancers.

Megan Santos has called Madeleine Robb a hero, and when asked about it on the Today Show, Robb replied:

"I suppose if that's how they feel, then that's what I am to them. I think anybody in my situation would have done the same thing, if they'd known what I knew, and had the opportunity to say it. So, I suppose I'm a hero in a certain sense, but in another sense I think I'm just, you know, rather normal, and I care about people."

Watch the Today Show interview here:

Comcast Announces 250 GB Broadband Cap

For years now people have complained about a "hidden" Comcast cap. Reports indicate that today Comcast is set to confirm the rumors over an upcoming 250 GB cap. Tell me: do you prefer knowing, or not knowing?

While this is bound to raise hackles among consumers, compare this to Frontier's recently implemented cap: 5 GB. Ouch, that's pretty much nothing. With companies such as Disney and Netflix pushing consumers to use more bandwidth, we seem to have an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

The "Day of Reckoning," is Oct. 1st, as Comcast announced.

We've listened to feedback from our customers who asked that we provide a specific threshold for data usage and this would help them understand the amount of usage that would qualify as excessive. Today, we're announcing that beginning on October 1, 2008, we will amend our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) available at http://www.comcast.net/terms/use/ and establish a specific monthly data usage threshold of 250 GB/month per account for all residential customers.

The good thing is there's no mention of overage fees. It seems this just quantifies the "hidden" number that Comcast never clarified before. That said, it seems most won't run into this, as most people didn't run afoul of the "hidden" value before and get their service terminated. However, the new FAQ does detail possible "punishment."

If a customer surpasses 250 GB and is one of the top users of the service for a second time within a six-month timeframe, his or her service will be subject to termination for one year. After the one year period expires, the customer may resume service by subscribing to a service plan appropriate to his or her needs.

No mention of any other DMCA-related add-ons. To be honest, I've been wanting to see clarity around their "hidden" cap for some time.

Of course, as I pointed out, more and more uses for broadband are being created, and thus, as time goes on, some may actually run into this cap. Probably not now, but someday. Something to think about.

Bloomberg: Oops, Sorry, Steve Jobs is Not Dead

If you happened across a Bloomberg release at 4:27 PM EDT Wednesday, you might have gasped. Apple stock might have crashed. But no, Steve Jobs is not dead.

Bloomberg updated its obituary information on Steve Jobs yesterday, and accidentally sent it out on the wires as well. It quickly retracted the story, thought without giving any details, saying:

"An incomplete story referencing Apple Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m. New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted."

And that quickly lowered the blood pressure of many. It should be noted that obituaries of this sort are frequently kept around for reference, just in case. It's not unusual, except in cases of very young people having their obituaries filed, such as Britney Spears. AP admitted they already had an obituary prepared for her during her meltdowns last year.

The obituary does serve as a reminder over the worries people have had over Jobs' health, however, since his gaunt appearance at the Apple WWDC earlier this year.

The story was obviously a mistake, as it started:

JOB (sic), STEVE. APPLE FOUNDER, TECH VISIONARY. UPDATED AUGUST 2008

HOLD FOR RELEASE - DO NOT USE - HOLD FOR RELEASE - DO NOT USE

Steve Jobs's birthday: Feb. 24, 1955
BIO UPDATED AS OF 2008, by Connie Guglielmo

Oops, do we now know it was Connie who goofed? There is a long list of people to contact in case of Jobs' death included in the text, with people such as Jobs' ex-girlfriend Heidi Roizen, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, Steve Wozniak (natch), Al Gore, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and on and on.

You can read the full obit at Gawker. It does at least give insight into how these things are prepared. And, if nothing else, Jobs got to read his obituary, something most people don't get to do.

More Antenna Tests: iPhone Antenna Still in the Clear

You'll recall I wrote that a Swedish newspaper took an iPhone to a lab for tests on its antenna. However, noting that the iPhone used in the tests had been performing well, the paper asked for some volunteers with misbehaving iPhones, so they could repeat the test.

Peter Planstedt and Stephanie Semic gave their iPhones to the paper to test. The repeat tests showed the same results; none of the three tested phones had problems related to their antennas.

According to the paper:

Charlie (Orlenius) tests Peter's iPhone a little extra and checks the TIS value also at frequencies on the outer edges, to see if the 3G connectivity problem shows up there. But the results are good there as well. The phones of Peter and Stephanie have no problems with the 3G communication in the test chamber. They send and receive signals in a fully normal manner. They do not disconnect earlier than the other we have tested when the signal becomes weaker.

- There is nothing unusual or strange with the performance of the antennas. If these mobiles do not keep the connection with the network like they should, the reason is not the antennas or how they are mounted, says Charlie.

Of course, it doesn't rule out issues in other areas of the iPhone. Users around the world are still complaining, and not about speed, as Wired's test focused on, but about dropped calls, missed calls, and no service at all when other phones work fine.

Here's another real-life example: I was in a hospital yesterday getting some tests. Along with my iPhone 3G I had a Motorola Q9h and a Nokia. All the phones dropped into EDGE in the building.

However, when I tried to make a call with the iPhone, it failed twice. I also received a call that was dropped. Meanwhile, my Q9h and Nokia were working fine, even getting emails while the iPhone couldn't even browse.

So it seems the issues are not limited to 3G, but network sensitivity to either 3G or EDGE. All based on empirical evidence mind you, though not in a lab. Hopefully, there will be some solution from Apple soon. I love the phone, but am growing weary of all the issues. Seeing a problem in EDGE mode as well: makes me lose hope.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Now Available

Want to be on the bleeding edge of Web surfing? Well, if you want to take a chance on what looks to be a pretty buggy Beta 2, Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 is now available for download.

I can tell you, one of the new features, Crash Recovery, might get used quite a bit by some users. I sure did.

In fact, a post on the Small Business Server (SBS) blog a few days ago warned:

If you decide to test IE8, please keep in mind that IE8 is still a Beta product and it may have compatibility issues with SBS 2003 and SBS 2008. We are working closely with the IE8 product development team to make sure that IE8 works with the SBS 2003 and 2008 Remote Web Workplace and Companyweb applications.

But the excitement is all about the new features, right? Other new features, thosein Microsoft-designated category of “Reach Beyond the Page.” as noted in the IE 8 Beta 2 Reviewers’ Guide, include:

• Accelerators, described by Microsoft as follows:
  

Tired of cutting and pasting information from one website to another for everyday tasks? Now there’s a better way. Accelerators give you ready access to the online services you use everyday—from any page you visit. Now you can simply select some text and then click on the blue Accelerators icon. For example, you may be interested in the location of a business featured on a webpage. In the past, you would need to copy the address from the webpage, navigate to another the webpage for a mapping service, and paste in the address. With the “Map with Live Maps” Accelerator in Internet Explorer 8, you can get an in-place view of a map displayed directly on the page.

• InPrivate, which includes Browsing (AKA "porn mode"), Blocking and Subscription features. I wrote in more detail about this earlier.

• Instant Search, described as follows:

Now you can type a search term and see real-time, relevant search suggestions from your chosen search provider and your browsing history. Click on a suggestion at any time to immediately execute the search without having to type the entire word or phrase.

• SmartScreen Filter blocks sites that are known by Microsoft to be unsafe. Of course, this functionality is duplicated in a lot of add-ons --- and I can see the false positives and the fallout over it.

One of the things I've been wondering about since hearing about the InPrivate Blocking feature, BTW, is the fact that "IE automatically blocks sites that have “seen” you across more than ten sites."

That sounds like once you've been "seen" across ten sites by a domain related to an ad network, IE8 would block that domain, meaning you wouldn't see ads from that network any longer. While many of us would love this, it sure would wreck ad revenue, so one has to wonder about it.

In fact, Mike Zaneis, vice president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau was concerned enough to say, "It has the potential to undermine the economies of the Internet."

On the other hand, you'd assume Microsoft would set up a whitelist to prevent accidental ad blocking. In that same article linked above it was reported that Microsoft sent screenshots of web pages showing no ad blocking with or without InPrivate Blocking enabled, so perhaps this is just a false alarm.

Microsoft did say one worrisome thing, at least for advertisers and site owners:

"InPrivate Blocking was never designed to be an ad blocker, though there may be ads that get blocked."

Still interested? You can download it from several places, including:

Microsoft
FileForum
Majorgeeks

"Houston, We Have Virus Lift-Off ..."

Surprisingly, this apparently isn't the first time this has happened to NASA. They haven't, to this point, been using antivirus software on the laptops astronauts take into space with them.

A lesson for us all? Yep.

However, the virus wasn't something that would bring the ISS crashing to Earth. The W32.Gammima.AG worm is pretty old: discovered last August. Since it targets passwords to various online games, and the lag from the ISS would be pretty bad, it's safe to say that the astronauts weren't doing anything that the virus would find inviting.

NASA believes the virus may have infected the laptops via a flash drive one of the astronauts used. This certainly makes sense, as the virus propagates by using removable media, according to Symantec.

And, the space agency plans to put some security measures in place for the future. Makes sense, particularly now that this has been publicized. Can you imagine a hacker really trying to bring down a space station. Nah, not likely, but it could compromise the ability of the astronauts to play Diablo 3 via their LAN in the future.

Major Security Hole Discovered in the iPhone

For you CEOs and Enterprise users: hold on before saying the iPhone is perfect for business. A major security hole has been found in the iPhone, and though most will say "so what," corporations who want Enterprise devices would say "whoa!"

A forum post detailed the ease with which you can get past the password lock. Assuming the phone is locked:

• Slide to unlock
• Tap emergency call
• Double tap the home button

You are now in your Favorites. But that's not all, since you now also have access to your Address Book, the dial keypad, and your voice mail (unless you password protect that, which many do not).

Now, some will say, big deal, they can see your Contacts. Well, for an supposedly Enterprise-ready device, this would be a big deal. Corporations generally don't want the contacts on their phones available for anyone to see (Paris Hilton sure doesn't, if you remember that famous incident) and for most, this would be a deal-breaker.

But there's more bad news.

• Tap on the blue arrows next to the names to get a look at the full info in a Favorite.
• Tap an email address in a contact to gain access to Mail.
• Tap an URL in your address book and get full access to Safari.
• Tap "Send Text Message" to gain access to all your SMSes.

Basically the phone is nearly totally unlocked. As I said, for most people: not an issue. For the Enterprise: a big issue.

There is a workaround: remap the Home button. To do this:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Click on General.
3. Click on Home Button.
4. Remap the button.

Suggestions have been to remap it to either "Home" or "iPod," as then the double-click of the Home button will take you back to the unlock screen or the iPod screen.

Expect a 2.0.3 update soon, or at least expect this to be fixed in 2.1 (with that 3G fix, I hope!).

U.K. Ad Authority Bans iPhone Ad

The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an ad for the iPhone after complaints that it was misleading. No, it's not about "twice as fast, half the price." Instead it's about the browsing prowess of the iPhone.

The ASA received two (yes, only 2) complaints about the ad, which said the following:

"You never know which part of the Internet you'll need. The 'do you need sun cream' part? The 'what's the quickest way to the airport' part? The 'what about an ocean view room' part? Or the 'can you really afford this' part? Which is why all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone."

The complaints were definitely from techies and not regular consumers: the complaints were that the iPhone does not support Flash or Java, which appear on many websites, and therefore the claim that "all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone" was false.

The response from Apple was that the aim of the ad was to highlight the benefits of the iPhone in being able to offer availability to full internet websites, as opposed to other phones which "offered access to WAP versions or sites selected by service providers."

ASA's Decision (emphasis mine):

The ASA noted that Java and Flash proprietary software was not enabled on the iPhone and understood that users would therefore be unable to access certain features on some websites or websites that relied solely on Flash or Java. We noted Apples argument that the ad was about site availability rather than technical detail, but considered that the claims "You'll never know which part of the internet you'll need" and "all parts of the internet are on the iPhone" implied users would be able to access all websites and see them in their entirety. We considered that, because the ad had not explained the limitations, viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a website normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the website. We concluded that the ad gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone.

Well, they are right, but it sure is picky. You can watch the video and judge for yourself below:

WGA Notification Update for Windows XP Professional: Much Like Vista SP1's

Leveraging the lessons learned from the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) changes made in Windows Vista SP1, Microsoft is planning to make several changes to the way that WGA works on Windows XP Professional, which it calls the most pirated version of the product.

In a post at the Windows Genuine Advantage blog, Microsoft said:

This release will be offered to the most pirated edition of Windows XP and therefore to users with the highest likelihood of having a non-genuine copy, those using Windows XP Pro. We're also offering it to those using editions based on Pro code such as Tablet and Windows Media Center, but plan to narrow the offering to Pro in future releases.

With this update to WGA Notifications in Windows XP, we've implemented a couple of related features that draw on the notifications experience we designed for Windows Vista SP1. After installing this version of WGA Notifications on a copy of Windows XP that fails the validation, most users will discover on their next logon that their desktop has changed to a plain black background from whatever was there previously.

You can see the way this looks above. A user can change the background back, but every 60 minutes the screen will change back to the above. That's just the start of Microsoft's nagging.

A translucent "ask for genuine Microsoft software" logo along with a "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting" message will also appear above the system tray. You can't interact them, but this is a plus and a minus, as it won't prevent the user from continuing to use the software.

As with the changes for Vista's WGA, this is all about bugging the user, er, victim of a counterfeit copy until they get a genuine copy.

BTW, don't misunderstand: Microsoft's comment about XP Pro only means that the changes to WGA will apply to that OS and OSes derived from it, but the current WGA experience will still persist on XP Home.

HTC Dream (Android G1) Drawings Revealed?

Leaks, leaks, leaks. Assuming this one is true, we now know pretty much what the HTC Dream, codenamed the T-Mobile G1, will look like. Or rather, we pretty much have confirmation of what the HTC Dream will look like.

According to the AndroidGuys blog, the above diagram (click to enlarge) is the HTC Dream. What brings more credibility to this is the similarity between the above and the FCC diagrams we saw earlier, as well as the leaked video.

The phone's back prominently displays the Google logo, showing off the well-known brand name.

Details on the more are as follows (naturally, take everything with a grain of salt):

• 528Mhz Qualcomm 7201 processor
• Data kit for USB connectivity in the box
• 64MB RAM
• 128MB ROM
• 1GB MicroSD card (it comes with a MicroSD card?)
  
• 5 Row QWERTY keypad
• Trackball
• Dedicated camera button
• 3.1MP camera (no flash) 2048 x 1536
• Video playback files - H.264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and Codec 3GP
• Dedicated YouTube Player
• Audio playback files - MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, MPEG4, WAV, MIDI, REAL AUDIO, OGG
• Wallpaper supports JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF
• Speakerphone (mono, natch)
• Ringtones (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA)
• HTTP, WAP Push, xHTML
• Bluetooth (class 1)
• Picture Caller ID
• SMS and MMS support
• POP, IMAP, and SMTP, AOL, and GMAIL email
• AIM, MSN, YAHOO, and GTALK messaging
• 3G, Quad Band (850, 900, 1800, 1900)
  
• 802.11 b/g
• UMTS (1,4), HSDPA, SUPL
• 1150mAh battery
• Screen size is 3.17″ with HVGA (480 x 320)
• Dimensions: 117 x 55 x 16 mm
• Weight: 5.6 oz.
• Sync capable with Google Calendar
• Downloadable content via Android Marketplace
• Google Streetview with built-in compass

People are as excited over this device as for the iPhone --- well, nearly. One big downer is the carrier: T-Mobile, not a major force among carriers. Reports are that the device will be announced and available for pre-orders by existing customers on Sept. 17th, with availability on October 13th.

Psystar Plans Countersuit Against Apple

One day after fellow clone maker Open Tech put itself up for sale at the bargain-basement price of $50K, Psystar indicated it would respond to Apple's lawsuit with its own countersuit, alleging that Apple engages in anticompetitive business practices.

Psystar says that Apple's tying of the Mac OS to Apple-labeled hardware is "an anticompetitive restrain of trade," according to attorney Colby Springer of antitrust specialists Carr & Ferrell. Psystar is requesting that the court void Apple's EULA, and is asking for unspecified damages.

Apple's EULA says:

"You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so."

which is a pretty straight-forward and simple statement.

While many looked askance at this company when it first emerged, since then it has shipped computers and reviews of them have even been done, showing the Open Computer to be a decent, not great, but definitely cheaper alternative to Apple hardware.

Apple has 30 days to respond to Psystar's countersuit, but is typically reticent so far.

Personal Banking Information Sold on eBay, for $64

It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it won't be the last. What's worrisome is that it probably happens more often than we know, and we just don't hear about it.

No, someone didn't explicitly sell personal info on eBay. What they did was sell a hard drive with the bank account numbers, phone numbers, mothers' maiden names and signatures of 1 million customers of American Express, NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland on it --- for £35 or about $64. Big oops, right?

Fortunately, the buyer was Andrew Chapman, an IT manager from Oxford, and not some scammer. Obviously, the odds are in favor of the buyer either being someone honest, or else just not noticing the extraneous data.

The drive originally belonged to data archival firm Graphic Data, which is owned by Mail Source.

In a statement, Mail Source said:

"Investigations are still ongoing to find out how this equipment was removed from one of Graphic Data's secure locations. We take customer privacy and data security very seriously. This incident is extremely regrettable and we're taking every possible step to retrieve the data and ensure this is an isolated incident."

Waitasec, since the buyer reported it, just how hard is it to retrieve the data? A spokesperson added:

"We know which employee took the server and sold it, but we believe it was an honest mistake and it was not intentional to sell it without the server being cleared."

For those of us who might want to sell or donate a used hard drive, it serves as a reminder: use something like SDelete, which I wrote about earlier, to really wipe your hard drive before giving it to someone.

Late last year a hard drive with Democratic Party data was purchased on eBay.

Virtual Romance Leads to Real-Life Kidnapping

A romance between two "residents" of the virtual world Second Life has led to an attempted real-life kidnapping.

Kimberly Jernigan, 33, of North Carolina, distraught (to say the least) over the failure of her virtual romance with an unnamed 52-year-old male from Claymont, Delaware, was arrested after attempting to kidnap him. This was actually her second attempt in the past few weeks.

New Castle County police say that on Aug. 21st, Jernigan hid inside her former boyfriend's home with a Taser, a pair of handcuffs, a BB gun, her dog (yes, her dog), and a roll of duct tape. Cpl. Trinidad Navarro, a spokesman for the New Castle police said:

"She started this virtual relationship and she wasn't ready to break it of. She had difficulty distinguishing between the virtual relationship and a real-life relationship."

There was at least an attempt at a real relationship; the affair wasn't broken off until the two met in person. And yes, it was an affair, as she and her husband Michael (who recently separated from her) had an "open" relationship and apparently both started online romances in Second Life.

"We had an agreement to have a somewhat open relationship and actually being involved in a game online was a very safe way to do that. Or so I thought when we both got started."

Apparently not so safe. Online activity has spilled over into real-life before, however. I earlier wrote about an MMORPG clan rivalry that eventually led to a real-life murder.

Google Search Has a Suggestion for You

Late Monday Google announced that one of its current Google Lab projects, Google Suggest, would start appearing on the main Google search page, rolled out in their typically gradual fashion worldwide, starting this week.

This type of suggestion feature has been available on Yahoo! and Cuil for some time.

In their blog post announcing the move, Google said::

The Google Suggest feature originally started as a 20% project in 2004, and has since expanded to Google Labs, Toolbar, Firefox search box, Maps and Web Search for select countries, the iPhone and BlackBerry, YouTube, and now Google.com.

If you can't access the feature yet on your Google search page, you can try it out here. You can also see a screenshot above. Google touts the feature as having the following advantages:

• Helps formulate queries
• Reduces spelling errors
• Saves keystrokes

But there's also this other reason: for once we had to play catchup, and since it's been in testing for some time, let's roll it out.

Wired's iPhone 3G Survey: What's Missing?

According to Wired's Gadget Lab, the problems with the iPhone's 3G performance is all about the network. This is based on a (decidedly) unscientific study of 4,200 iPhone 3G users around the world, which they published on Monday. Besides the fact that this spreads the sample in any particular area pretty thin, worldwide as the survey was, there's one thing I would love to see that wasn't done with this survey. More on that later.

In fact, due to incomplete data, only 2,636 data points that were usable, a still thinner sampling. Conclusions were that users in areas with mature 3G networks had much better results. For example, Germany and the Netherlands reported the world’s fastest average 3G download speeds --- about 2 Mbps. The most "0" results (no 3G) came from --- where else? The U.S.

Further data seems to indicate that a theory we've noted before may not be off the mark --- areas where a large number of 3G phones propagate seem to have worse connectivity.

Now, although I personally believe that the iPhone's problems are not network-only, I've never totally ruled out the network. At the very least, I believe the "congestion" problem noted above could have something to do with the issues.

However, in addition to this study, what we really need is a comparison of iPhones with other 3G phones. As I've indicated, I can place several 3G phones right next to an iPhone and they will have great signal strength while the iPhone barely gets one bar.

And yes, I realize that different manufacturers determine their signal strength differently, and that bars aren't enough to determine signal strength --- but it's not just bars. The other phones browse just fine, don't drop calls, don't miss calls, on and on. Frankly, if the iPhone worked with one bar the same as a Q9h with full bars (which is what I see), I'd be perfectly happy, and assume it was a gauge problem.

But it doesn't. The only way to get the iPhone to work well is to stick it into EDGE. And that's not what we all paid for. While this study is great, it's missing a couple of points to make it really meaningful: one, comparison against other 3G phones, where the iPhone seems to fall flat on its face.

Still more: this survey was all about speed, and what some commenters noted and what users are really complaining about isn't speed, but connectivity: dropped calls, missed calls, "Call Failed" errors, and the like. Sure, it's easy to quantify speed, and my type of survey would be more difficult --- but it would also be more useful.

Quite honestly, I also worry that Apple will fix this in hardware, and six months down the line buyers will be happily walking out of the store with much better experiences than early adopters.

Then again, if Apple would just open up communication-wise (they must know what the issue is by now!), we wouldn't be wondering, now would we?

OpenClip Gets Closed

A few days ago I wrote about OpenClip, a framework which was designed to allow applications to perform copy-and-paste, something that has been missing (but really, really desired) from the iPhone.

Developer Zac White found a way to create a shared clipboard, which could then be used between applications. Well, it appears that iPhone firmware 2.1 is closing that loophole, so while copy-and-paste could stil work within a single application, the ability to do so between applications will no longer exist.

As OpenClip says on their site:

Yes, it's true. I mentioned before that this was definitely a possibility, but I don't believe it is an inevitability. But anyway, lets define breaking:

Apps that use OpenClip will no longer be able to copy and paste between applications. However, applications can still utilize a persistent way to store data inside the application, meaning that copy and paste within the app will still work fine. And on top of that, apps that utilize only one form (either copy or paste) can disable interface elements when Apple axes OpenClip.

However, even though apple is killing the concept behind the current OpenClip, that doesn't mean we can't change the concept. A shared clipboard could be stored in an Address Book card or even on a remote server. Those solutions aren't as good as the OpenClip implementation, but they aren't bad.

White also debunked any thoughts that Apple is doing this on purpose, saying:

... some seem to think that Apple is squashing OpenClip specifically. I don't really believe this to be the case. Even though I debuted to concept before the newest beta was release, I'm sure Apple had been planning to kill this kind of thing for a while.

Perhaps 2.1 will contain native copy/paste functionality anyway, so this would have been superfluous. Or, perhaps not. I'm genuinely hoping Apple is looking at only one item: 3G connectivity (yes, it's my high horse).

Amazon.com Promises Release-Day Delivery for Hot Upcoming Games

In a Monday press release, Amazon.com announced that buyers who want to get their hands on some upcoming hot games can upgrade their shipping to be assured they'll get them on release day:

Gamers have been asking for it and Amazon has answered the call. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that it will offer release-date delivery for "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09," "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," "Fable 2" and "Gears of War 2." For $5.98, Amazon customers can upgrade their shipping option for guaranteed delivery of these titles on the first day of availability to all addresses within the continental United States. Additionally, Amazon Prime customers will receive release-date delivery for free.

"We are excited to delight Amazon customers by offering guaranteed release-date delivery of these new video game titles so that the games can arrive at their doors the first day they're available," said Greg Hart, vice president of video games and software at Amazon.com. "This means that thousands of gamers across the country can start playing the games they love on the day they're released without having to stand in long lines or stay up all night to do it."

"Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09" will be released on Aug. 26, 2008. "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" will be released on Sept. 16, 2008. "Fable 2" will be released on Oct. 21, 2008. "Gears of War 2" will be released on Nov. 7, 2008.

At first I read this and thought: hey, pretty cool. Then I realized: I've been getting games on release day for quite a while --- of course, I have Amazon Prime, so that's probably why.

On the other hand, I checked: it's not $5.98 on top of the normal shipping charge; it's $5.98 period, even for next day. For example, I selected the Tiger Woods game, and that releases tomorrow. So that would be a next day shipment, right? Still only $5.98.

Choose Next-Day instead? $15.48. So, in fact, this could be a real bargain, in some instances. Try it yourself, or click the Tiger Woods box art above to see the full image of my checkout.

Some assumed the charge would be on top of a (they said) up to $20 for next-day shipping; a little homework showed that wasn't the case, at least for this item. The FAQ page on release-day delivery gives Amazon an out though, saying "Shipping charges for Release-Date Delivery vary by item."

While the press release only mentions these four games, it's obvious from the FAQ this will expand to all their games, eventually, at least.

Google: "No Trespassing" Doesn't Mean "No Street View"

As reported by the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, a Google Street View driver passed two "no trespassing" signs to collect pictures images of a residence 1,200 feet from a county road, putting Street View right in the cross-hairs in another privacy dust-up. Still, considering past statements by Google, it's strange anyone is surprised by this.

After all, in response to a lawsuit by a Allegheny County couple over Street View photos (above) taken despite a "private road" sign, Google said (emphasis mine):

"Today's satellite-image technology means that even in today's desert, complete privacy does not exist. In any event, plaintiffs live far from the desert and are far from hermits.

According to the newspaper, however, Google hasn't just driven on a few private roads; it's taken pictures of more than 100 private roads, in Sonoma County in Northern California.

Google spokesman Larry Yu said: "Our policy is to not drive on private land," and that Google tries to hire local drivers, who are given specific routes to follow.

Oops to that, though. An anonymous Street View driver said he was simply told to drive around Sonoma County and collect images. After hearing of that statement, Yu retracted his.

While it is relatively simple to remove Street View pictures (assuming you even know they exist, see below), it seems to me that a "Private Road" or "No Trespassing" sign is an opt-out statement, just one not done with a browser mouse click.

Still, Google disagrees, and it may be up to the courts to decide, as in the lawsuit above.

As far as removing a picture from Street View, go to Street View Help, click a link, and select "This image infringes on my privacy" or another option.

IE8 to Get "Porn Mode" After All

Earlier I wrote about hints that IE8, soon to be released in beta 2 form, would get a "private browsing" mode (often popularized as "porn" mode). On Monday, Microsoft confirmed that IE8 would indeed provide a private browsing feature, called “InPrivate.”

While most think of "private browsing" as simply browsing the web without leaving "tracks," such as cookies, history, cache data, etc., etc., IE8's version gets much more granular than is usually thought of. In their blog post detailing the new feature, Microsoft detailed the following "private browsing" features:

InPrivate Browsing lets you control whether or not IE saves your browsing history, cookies, and other data

While InPrivate Browsing is active, the following takes place:

• New cookies are not stored
  • All new cookies become “session” cookies
  • Existing cookies can still be read
  • The new DOM storage feature behaves the same way
• New history entries will not be recorded
• New temporary Internet files will be deleted after the Private Browsing window is closed
• Form data is not stored
• Passwords are not stored
• Addresses typed into the address bar are not stored
• Queries entered into the search box are not stored
• Visited links will not be stored

Delete Browsing History helps you control your browsing history after you’ve visited websites. But unlike the feature in IE7, you can keep cookies and temporary Internet files from websites saved in your Favorites list.

That's pretty cool, as typically I'd rather keep all my cookies rather tha lose some of the cookies for my favorite sites.

To avoid having your favorite sites “forget you”, simply add them to your Favorites, and make sure the “Preserve Favorites website data” checkbox is selected. IE will preserve any cookies or cache files that were created by websites in your favorites.

InPrivate Blocking informs you about content that is in a position to observe your browsing history, and allows you to block it

InPrivate Blocking keeps a record of third-party items like the one above as you browse. When you choose to browse with InPrivate, IE automatically blocks sites that have “seen” you across more than ten sites.

You can also manually choose items to block or allow, or obtain information about the third-party content directly from the site by clicking the “More information from this website” link. Note that Internet Explorer will only record data for InPrivate Blocking when you are in “regular” browsing mode, as no browsing history is retained while browsing InPrivate. An easy way to think of it is that your normal browsing determines which items to block when you browse InPrivate.

InPrivate Subscriptions allow you to augment the capability of InPrivate Blocking by subscribing to lists of websites to block or allow.

Under the covers, InPrivate Subscriptions are simply RSS feeds of Regular Expressions that specify sub-downloads to block or allow. Anyone can publish an InPrivate Subscription on their website, just as they can offer an Accelerator or Web Slice on their website.

Safari already supports "private browsing," but Firefox does not. IE8 is expected to go to testers later this week.

Asus Intros Scented Laptops

If this wasn't a post directly from Asus, I'd be inclined to file this with urban legends. But no, apparently not. Asus has designed a line of notebooks that literally smell, the ASUS F6 scented notebooks.

To be honest, if this were April 1st, I'd still be suspicious.

As Asus says in their press release:

Enjoy a breath of fresh air in the world of personal laptops and celebrate individuality with the ASUS F6 scented notebooks. The compact and stylish F6 engages the eyes with attractive motifs and for the first time, our sense of smell with infused scents.

But as Asus says, "the lifespan of fragrance depends on actual usage." Hilarious, actually. The four different scents / designs are:

Floral Blossom

In glorious pink, this design evokes the imagery of a summer party, leaving the somber feel of conventional laptop designs far behind with its cheerful, floral motif and a floral scent – the most attractive laptop for ladies!

Musky Black

Boasting a glossy black surface emblazoned with a colorful motif inspired by extreme sports and graffiti art, this model emanates power, daring, and energy with its playfulness and musky scent.

Morning Dew

Realized in a pastel green hue, this graphic motif is inspired by the love and respect for nature. Return to the embrace of Mother Nature for a crisp and refreshing awakening of the senses whenever you work on your notebook.

Aqua Ocean

The freedom afforded by a boundless expanse of sky and the energy of breaking waves are captured perfectly on the cover of this notebook. The matching invigorating aquatic scent will keep your days energized!

Specifications for the F6V are:

Intel Centrino 2 processor technology
- Intel Core2 Duo Processor T9400/P8600/P8400
- Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset
- Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN Network Connection
Genuine Windows Vista
- Genuine Ultimate
- Genuine Business
- Genuine Home Premium/Home basic
DDRII-667/800 DRAM support, up to 4GB
13.3” WXGA Color Shine LCD
ATI Mobility Radeon HD3470, external 256MB DDR2 VRAM
SATA 120/160/250/320GB
31.2 x 23.19 x 3.2-3.52cm

Based on the specs, it looks like performance isn't going to "stink." But does this mean we have to add benchmarks for "length of scent retention?"

iPhone Antenna Seemingly in the Clear for 3G Issues

I wrote earlier about an unnamed Swedish scientist who said that the iPhone was not sensitive enough to 3G signals, bad news if true because it would mean that software wouldn't be likely to fix the problems.

Well, a Swedish newspaper took an iPhone to a company, Bluetest, which sells test chambers for wireless devices with small antennas. The equipment measures how well a device sends and receives signals. The test results:

- The values are completely normal, says Magnus Franzén, an antenna engineer with an M.Sc. in Engineering Physics.

We compare the results with those of a Sony Ericsson P1 belonging to Bluetest's CEO Mats Andersson, and my Nokia N73. The P1 is a little better at receiving signals and the N73 a little better at transmitting signals. But the difference is small. The difference between the iphone's and the P1's receive sensitivity is 2 dB.

- It is not much. At a difference of 4-6 dB one might start to wonder if there is anything wrong, says Mats Andersson.

What we have now is similar to what typically happens in a court case: one expert says one thing and another completely invalidates it.

Still, as the article states this is an antenna test. It doesn't rule out the Infineon chipset, chipset drivers, or firmware. Statistically, it's also invalid because it only tested one of each device.

On the other hand, at least it's something, and since Apple is typically close-mouthed, it's all we're going to get (meaning third-party testing) for now. And the paper did ask for people with connectivity problems to contact them:

If you are in Gothenburg and have an iphone with a bad 3G connection, not just that there are few signal strength bars, but that calls are disconnected and downloads are interrupted, let us know. Maybe we can do some more turns in the test chamber.

Doubtless, they will get some resp0nses.

U.S. Broadband Sucks, But Less So on the East Coast: Study

Despite the fact that California, specifically Silicon Valley, is thought to be the heart of technology, it's the East Coast that rules in terms of broadband speeds, according to a study by affordable-broadband advocacy group Speed Matters. Just to be clear, Speed Matters is an organization backed by the Communication Workers of America (CWA).

The report (.PDF), is the second annual survey by Speed Matters. It just re-emphasizes how far behind the U.S. is compared to other countries in terms of broadband speed.

The results of this second annual survey of Internet speeds show that the United States has not made significant improvement in the speeds at which residents connect to the Internet. Our nation continues to fall far behind other countries.

The median download speed for the nation was 2.3 megabits per second (mbps). In Japan, the median download speed is 63 mbps, or 30 times faster than the U.S.

While not everyone wants broadband, most of us do, and the faster the better. On the other hand, while the U.S. continues to drop behind other countries in terms of speed, U.S. ISPs seem to be moving further and further toward tiered broadband.

In terms of the fastest Internet, however, the top nine states are all on the East Coast. They are:

1. Rhode Island (6.8Mbps)
2. Delaware (6.7Mbps)
3. New Jersey (5.8Mbps)
4. Virginia (5Mbps)
5. Massachusetts (4.6Mbps)
6. New York (4.1Mbps)
7. Florida (4.0Mbps)
8. Maryland (4.0Mbps)
9. Georgia (3.0Mbps)

Wow, look at that drop between 8 and 9. Finally, a West Coast state at #10: Washington. California ranks #25 at 2.5Mbps.

The survey was conducted between May 2007 and May 2008; visitors to the Speed Matters web site were asked to test their connection speed. Nearly 230,000 connections in the United States were tested.

For the East Coast, it's great that they have fast speeds, but if ISPs decide to all have tiered service, particularly low tiers like Frontier's 5GB cap, it'll mean we all just reach the limit that much faster.

First Silver-Zinc Battery Demo'ed at IDF 2008

Lithium-ion battery overheating, explosions, fires, whatever ... they're no secret. Whether it's iPods, cell phones, PSPs, or laptops, it's not all that uncommon.

ZPower, who's been talking up their silver-zinc battery technology for a while, demonstrated the technology for the first time at IDF 2008 last week.


ZPower claims their batteries will offer 20 - 40% more computer time per charge than lithium-ion batteries. And even more on the positive side, they are free from explosiveness, as well as being free from toxic materials:

ZPower silver-zinc batteries have an intrinsically safe water-based chemistry that contains no lithium or flammable solvents. Unlike lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries, ZPower batteries are free from the problems of thermal runaway, fire, and danger of explosion. ZPower batteries are also free from the regulations that limit the size of lithium-containing batteries on airplanes.

In addition to offering high-performance and safety, ZPower batteries use an environmentally friendly chemistry that allows battery cells to be recycled and the contents reused. Unlike other traditional batteries, ZPower batteries have no heavy metals and no toxic chemicals. That means silver-zinc is green-clean.

As someone who carries around (sometimes) a Dell XPS M1730, realizing I am not going to get much usage out of the battery, I'd love to see this tech become reality. And, at IDF, the company said it has signed a deal with "one of the major" PC makers to use its silver-zinc batteries in a notebook line slated for 2009. Now that would be great, except that 2009 could be as long as 16 months away.

Do 4th-Gen iPod nano Cases Confirm Redesign?

I wrote earlier about the rumored upcoming iPod line revamp, including pictures purportedly of the iPod nano redesign. Interestingly, it seems that some cases for the device are showing up, rather suddenly. While it's awfully convenient for them to suddenly show up, it's interesting that one of them, which includes 3D CADs of the reported design, has a post date of 7/14, well before the Rose post.

Click the above image to see a case design by "some unknown Canadian company."

This isn't the only case around the Web, there's also this one sold by Beelan via Alibaba.


Proporta has a series of 4th-gen iPod nano cases, but no pictures.

Finally, there's even a Craigslist post in Vancouver, but you can't tell anything from the pictures in that post.

So, what can we determine? The only one you can really look at carefully is the first one above. And if you look that picture, as well as others at that site, it sure as heck looks like a mini-USB connector on the bottom, which makes one question its veracity (and how much Photoshopping was involved).

Either way, it sure looks a lot like Rose's picture. What do you readers think?

Newegg.com Stops Collecting NY State Sales Tax

You'll probably remember the portent of things to come: New York State's new sales tax on Internet retailers, which went into effect in June. Both Amazon.com and Overstock.com have sued over the tax, in fact, which was written so as to apply "physical presence" to retailers who had affiliates (generally, web sites advertising for the retailer) based in New York.

Formerly, only retailers which an actual brick-and-mortar presence in a state were required to collect sales tax. New York legislators went so far as to nickname the new tax the "Amazon tax."

The announcement was made to Newegg customers residing in New York in an email on Friday. The email said:

Dear Valued Newegg Customer,

As a result of recent changes in New York State tax law requiring certain out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales taxes to the State of New York, we began collecting applicable sales tax for all orders shipped to New York addresses starting June 1, 2008.

After careful review and consideration, we are pleased to inform you that we have stopped collecting New York sales tax, effective August 21, 2008. This decision was driven by your direct and candid feedback and our continued commitment to you as our valued customers.

We appreciate your patience as we worked through this process, and would like to reiterate our commitment in offering our customers the broadest product selection, competitive pricing, fastest shipping, and award-winning customer service.

We look forward to continuing to provide you with the premier online shopping experience for all of your IT and consumer electronics needs.

Sincerely,

Bernard Luthi
Newegg.com
Company Spokesperson and
Vice President of Merchandising

Disclaimer: While Newegg no longer charges sales tax to its New York customers effective August 21, 2008, you may still have an obligation to pay New York State use tax on your purchases. Newegg cannot offer you any tax advice, so please refer to applicable law if you have any questions about use tax. Nothing in this email shall be deemed to approve the validity of any New York State law, including but not limited to section 1101(b)(8)(vi) of the New York State Tax Law, which purports to require Newegg to collect and remit New York State sales tax on its sales to residents of that state.

What's that disclaimer mean? Well, for those of us in states with sales tax, it's a line item on our tax returns (use tax), which you are supposed to fill in with the amount of sales tax you would have paid had you bought certain out-of-state items in your state.

And, of course, we a) all take the time to keep track of that, b) all pay it.

In a 1992 Supreme Court decision, Quill vs. North Dakota, the Supreme Court ruled that out-of-state retailers cannot be required to collect sales tax on purchases sent to states where they did not have a physical presence.

The Supreme Court’s reasoning was at least partially based on the fact that, at the time the case was decided in 1992, there were over 6,000 separate sales and use tax jurisdictions in the United States (states, localities, special tax districts, etc.) and to impose a collection obligation on a remote seller would impose a crushing burden that would severely restrict interstate commerce.

Blackberry Bold Having 3G Issues?

Move over iPhone. Reports are that RIM's upcoming Blackberry Bold is having similar 3G reception problems. While not available in the U.S. yet, the Bold has been released in a few countries.

Barron's reports info from Citigroup analyst Jim Suva:

“We had a few occasional 3G signal dropping troubles at some locations especially on high-rises building streets & on our 34th floor (EDGE picked up immediately but slower internet speeds)."

It should be noted that at least the Bold is dropping into EDGE. The iPhone is just sitting in 3G mode for those with issues, but with very low signal strength.

As I've reported, however, a bigger worry is that similar 3G phones sitting right next to the iPhone have excellent 3G signal strength, pointing a problem of some type with the reception of the iPhone.

The Bold uses a 624-Mhz Marvell Tavor PXA930 processor which incorporates the HSDPA modem and applications processor on one chip. At least it's not using the same Infineon chipset as the iPhone, so perhaps speculation that the 3G issues on the iPhone can be fixed with software will still be true.

At any rate, it has to be annoying to AT&T that two of its new and highest profile 3G phones are having 3G problems.

iPod Line Revamp Upcoming; iPod Nano Redesign Revealed

According to retailer reports, an almost certain iPod line revamp is coming in September. That seems pretty likely, as Apple seems to favor September for iPod launches. At the same time, reports of actual iPod nano details have arisen.

Mid-week reports arose of retailers such as Target showing current models of iPods as discontinued when scanned through their PDAs. Also, Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes restated his claim that the iPod Touch needs a repositioning (it clearly does, with the new subsidized iPhone 3G pricing):

"We continue to believe Apple will need to reposition the iPod touch line in conjunction with its anticipated new product announcement in early to mid-September now that the iPhone acquisition price is lower."

Topping things off rumor-central-wise? Digg founder Kevin Rose's blog post detailing some of the same rumors, as well as a picture of what he says is the redesigned nano.

Latest rumors:

- Revamp of entire iPod line.
- Small cosmetic changes to Touch, Nano to see significant redesign (see pic below).
- iPods to see fairly large price drops to distance itself from the $199 iPhone.
- iPod touch 2.1 software, iPhone to get update very soon after.
- iTunes 8.0 ("it's a big update w/new features").
- All of this coming in the next 2-3 weeks.

What, the iPod Touch gets 2.1 first!? After all, that is rumored to have the 3G fix in it (and it darned well better, too).

"Phoney" iPhone Lines in Poland as Phase II Launch Falls Somewhat Flat

On Friday, Apple's iPhone went on sale in 21 other countries, including India and Poland as iPhone 3G Rollout Phase II began. While demand for the iPhone 3G has been loud and clear in many countries so far (unlike 3G service on the device), the iPhone isn't quite such a hot commodity in the newly launched set countries.

For one, Telekomunikacja Polska (TP), which France Telecom (whose wireless division is Orange) has a controlling stake in, has admitted it used actors to form fake lines, trying to make people believe that demand for the iPhone was higher than it actually was (see above).

TP spokesman Wojciech Jabczynski said:

"It was a marketing move. We thought it was a pretty interesting strategy. The aim was to attract attention. The people in the queues told passers-by about the iPhone."

France Telecom commented similarly:

"The aim was to draw people's attention to the product, and to make some buzz around it."

T-Mobile also sells the iPhone in Poland, and it didn't try the same stunt. Thus, it had no lines outside its stores.

Meanwhile, in India, lines were also non-existent, with the price of the iPhone ranging from $702 for the 8 GB model and $830 for the 16 GB model, as neither Vodafone nor Airtel will subsidize the phone in India --- and there's no 3G in India, to make matters worse.

You can't discount the 3G and application crash complaints as having some effect on sales as well.

But how successful will the iPhone be in emerging markets? Motorola was unable to dent Nokia's share in these markets. For example, in India Nokia has a 55% share of the market and competition from Apple in the high-end segment will do little to change things.

Nokia dominates many markets in Europe and Asia, and the E71 has received great reviews, with some saying that for its target audience, it is a far better phone than the iPhone.

So, Apple has its work cut out for it. Can it do it? Well, first things first: fix the 3G!

Microsoft Patents "Page Up, Page Down"

To think that prior to 2005 there wasn't any page up / page down functionality. After all, that's when Microsoft filed a patent application for "Method and system for navigating paginated content in page-based increments."

To be exact, March 4, 2005 was the date of the application, and the patent was granted on Tuesday. And it's:

A method and system in a document viewer for scrolling a substantially exact increment in a document, such as one page, regardless of whether the zoom is such that some, all or one page is currently being viewed. In one implementation, pressing a Page Down or Page Up keyboard key/button allows a user to begin at any starting vertical location within a page, and navigate to that same location on the next or previous page.

Shoot, I can't imagine how this works. And I'm trying to remember when I saw the first Page Up and Page Down keys on a keyboard.

I suppose this is almost as silly as trying to trademark "cloud computing."

Why Diss Jessica Smith for Suing Apple Over the iPhone 3G?

After writing about Alabama resident Jessica Alena Smith's lawsuit against Apple, I was surprised by some of the negative comments over the lawsuit. For example, this one:

This woman is a venomous money sucker.

She's not thinking how she can get a better product, though.
She's just seeing $$$ in her eyes.

First of all, she wants this lawsuit to be granted class-action status. Anyone know how much money is typically made off a class-action lawsuit? Take a look at a different Apple class-action lawsuit: the iPod battery lawsuit. The settlement over that really made people rich, right?

In that case, the best you could get, if your 3rd-gen iPod's battery failed during the warranty period (including a one-year extension), was a replacement iPod. Wow, I'm rich! Most others received $25 or $50.

This isn't a lawsuit that's going to garner a huge settlement. Anyone who thinks it will is dreaming, and people (there are other posts like the above around the Web) who thinks she's after money are ... quite honestly, being pretty silly (and that's me being nice; I have a few different words I could use).

Twice as Fast. Half the Price.

There are also many who say, hey, the phone's half the price; there's no false advertising. And when 3G works, it is twice as fast.

Well, yeah, that's right. It is. When it works. But many, including me, have given up on 3G completely and switched to EDGE all the time. And since we are paying $10 a month more for our data plans than the EDGE plans of first-gen iPhones, we're basically getting shafted.

Oh, and that half the price part of the ad? Completely off. Once you add in the $10 a month extra for the data plan, and the $5 for SMS (it was included in first-gen iPhone service plans), you pay more for the 3G phone over the two-year contract. Once again, I'm amazed by how people just hear something, and believe it, without thinking.

Don't Like It? Ditch It

Naturally, there are those who say: don't like the phone, return it. Thing is, most love the phone. They just want what they paid for. And it's not just a question of the phone itself; I might even be willing to live with it in EDGE all the time, but I'm paying that $10 a month I keep mentioning for the non-existent 3G service.

Works Fine for Me

And for those who say: "it works just fine for me?" It's been theorized that areas with a higher concentration of 3G mobile phones (like the SF Bay Area, where I live) have a much higher probability of having the issue.

It's AT&T's Lousy 3G Network

Finally, I'm just amazed at how many people continue to either a) discount the problem, b) continue to blame AT&T.

First, it's definitely a problem. There have been too many reports, and if major media outlets like the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal pick up on it ... it's a real problem.

Second, it's been reported worldwide, and in areas of the world with much more mature 3G service than the U.S. Kinda hard for it to be AT&T's fault if it's happening to Vodafone and T-Mobile users.

Third, I work in mobile phones. I can stick six different AT&T 3G phones on my desk, right next to an iPhone (and I've tried several iPhones, as we are working with them) and see the iPhone have 1 bar while the bars on the other phones are full. And this will happen at both home and work.

In fact, while I only had two other phones today (a Q9h and a Treo Pro), I did put them side by side with an iPhone. Check out the result by clicking the above image. FYI: I blurred out some stuff that might be work-sensitive.

My Big Worry: a Fake Fix

Here's my big worry. Since I work on mobile phone software, I know what's been done in the past with problems with phones. It seems like the iPhone 3G has much lower 3G signal strength in the same area than other 3G phones do. If it downshifted to EDGE instead of just sitting with 1 bar, it would perform just fine ... but wouldn't be in 3G. The big disadvantage of this, beside the fact users are paying $10 more for 3G, is that you can't use voice and data at the same time.

And of course, as pictured above, other 3G phones would be working just fine in that same area.

So, if Apple "fixed" the software to do this, it might satisfy users, but it would be a false fix. It wouldn't really fix the true problem: much lower 3G signal strength compared to other 3G phones. Whether that can be fixed with software or not, I don't know. If it can't, Apple should do a recall.

Don't get me wrong, though. That's my fear, not my expectation. But, I'll tell you, with those six (really more) phones I have available, when Apple releases a fix, I'll be able to check it. And it turns out to be what I fear, I'll be on the phone to Smith's lawyers, the New York Times, and anyone who will listen so fast your head will spin.

So stop dissing her. Someone had to do it. Someone had to make sure Apple took notice. And someone has to make sure we get a "genuine" fix, not a "fake" one. If they do the right thing, great. I'll be the first to applaud.

But, if they don't, you can be sure at least one person will make sure people know about it.

Baidu Now Third Largest Search Engine in the World: comScore

On Thursday comScore released its search market share and query growth numbers for July. Google's market share rose 0.4%, which at the same time Yahoo!'s market share dropped 0.4%. Coincidence much?

At the same time, the global search numbers are just as interesting, if not more so. Google actually lost market share globally, but this drop was largely due to changes in the way comScore measures traffic in China, Brazil, and Russia.

Baidu's global search market share went rose 5.2% to 12.9% in July. Looking at the numbers, Baidu is now the third-largest search engine globally.


NHN is a South Korean search engine, BTW. Nothing for Google to worry about, as 64.1% is nothing to sneeze at, and the change was mostly due to "accounting changes." Still, Microsoft and Yahoo! might want to worry some about Baidu.

Users Complain as China Blocks iTunes Over Pro-Tibet Album

According to complaints posted on Apple's support forum, users in China have been blocked from accessing iTunes. Complaints began to appear on the site earlier this week, with posts indicating the issues started on Monday.

I am in Shanghai and have been able to use iTunes for 3 years now with no problems, but for the past two days I get an immediate message that the "network connection was reset". I have tried the usual trouble shooting with updating software, unplugging, restarting, pirouetting etc... Have contacted friends in Shanghai and they are not able to access it either. Can anyone find out if it is being blocked and how long it will be gone? Thanks for any insight....

And another post:

Dear Apple Team,

since a few days ago, I am not able anymore to connect the iTunes Store Germany. I have to say that I living in China. I get always the Message: Connection Error (-4) even with my MacBook Pro, MacMini, MacBook Air or with my IPhone.

If I am outside of China my iTunes Store is working. I tried also to use a Proxy server when I am in China and it works too.

Plenty more where those came from. The fact that users indicate it will work for them on the same computer if they are outside of "The Great Firewall of China" or use a proxy server are particularly telling.

Note that China does not have its own iTunes store; users have to visit stores in other countries.

The first poster above received the following from Apple, which typically is rather tight-lipped about the issue.

ITunes is not being blocked in China from our end, but access to the iTunes Store IS restricted in some areas in China. This would also explain why it's happening to your friends there as well.

I would advise that you contact your ISP about this matter. Please also note though that accessing the US iTunes Store outside of the geographic region of the United States is not supported, and that attempting to access it while in China is at your own risk.

Confirmation that it's not Apple blocking access, at least. The theory is that the blocking is over the recently posted album, Songs for Tibet--The Art of Peace. This album was put forth by the Art of Peace Foundation. According to the nonprofit's Web site,

The Art of Peace Foundation is dedicated to achieving the Dalai Lama’s vision of creating peace within our selves and in the world. His message is as simple as it is profound — by cultivating inner peace, our actions in the world generate happiness and peace in others.

I'd be stunned if that site wasn't blocked as well. The album includes music from such artists as Moby, Ben Harper, John Mayer, Sting, Alanis Morissette, and Dave Matthews.

The Foundation itself acknowledged that China might try to block access to the album in an August 7th press release:

In the face of this situation, we offered the athletes a solution in the form of a free download of the album "Songs for Tibet - The Art of Peace " and a suggestion to wear a MP3 Player during the games as a symbol of freedom of expression. Wearing a MP3 Player, a simple icon of personal freedom, provides Olympic athletes with an acceptable way to protest these conditions. We began contacting athletes as soon as the album was done. We knew once the athletes were in Beijing, The Great Firewall of China’ might prevent accessibility to downloads.

Earlier this week the Foundation issued a press release noting that more than 40 Olympians had downloaded the album. Michael Wohl, Executive Director of the Art of Peace Foundation, told AP he believes that blocking was initiated after that press release.

As a side note: only 40? Considering the number of athletes at the Games, that's actually a pretty poor response to an important issue.

"Windows 7 Client" Category Added to Windows Update

Perhaps Microsoft will make their seemingly aggressive January 2010 date for Windows 7 after all. They've already added a "Windows 7 Client" category to Windows Update and to the Microsoft Update Catalog (see above, click to enlarge).

This was announced on the Microsoft Update Product Team Blog on Thursday, although the actual changes occurred Wednesday:

Yesterday a new product category for Windows 7 Client was published to Windows Update and was made available to WSUS (another one for Windows 7 Server should be appearing soon as well). As with all of our other new product categories, this is for Microsoft teams who are publishing Windows 7 beta drivers/updates in the near future. In the future, we’ll try to let you know about new categories ahead of time.

Sounds like they might have been surprised, too.

Some of the drivers are even from 2007, such as this one, from NVIDIA, but remember that Microsoft earlier said that Vista drivers would be compatible with Windows 7.

To be honest, most of the entries in the catalog that say Windows 7 also say Windows Vista, so it all makes sense. On the other hand, since some of them are as old as January 2007, I wouldn't expect an optimal experience from them in Windows 7 simply because they are listed in the catalog.

This doesn't necessarily point to an upcoming beta, however. Remember that Microsoft earlier published guidelines (.PDF) indicating that starting on June 1st of this year, hardware manufacturers had to supply a set of test logs for Windows 7 to receive certification for Windows Vista.

AT&T Launches "Geek Squad" Competitor "ConnecTech"

Question: would you trust a phone company to fix your computer problems? That's what AT&T wants you to do, as on Thursday they announced the launch of "ConnecTech," sort of a clone of Best Buy's "Geek Squad."

Prices vary from $69.00 for telephone PC / home network support to $99 for computer and network installation and $179 for home PC repair / support. Sheesh, I do all this stuff free for my friends and family.

AT&T's press release says:

From home theater planning and consultations to new hardware installation and notebook repair, AT&T ConnecTech provides a customized portfolio for virtually all consumer services in all 50 states. Specifically, AT&T ConnecTech provides in-home and over-the-phone support services — including next-day service installation, seven days a week — for a broad range of TV and PC needs, including:

• Custom installation of home theater and TV equipment.
• Flat-panel TV wall mounting and home video installation.
• Wall-mount speaker installation.
• New PC or Apple^® computer installation and the startup of a home desktop or notebook, including e-mail, security configuration and device networking.
• PC repair service, including parts and hardware replacement.
• Home network installation of multiple broadband-enabled devices.
• Computer and network diagnosis covering software and router configuration, settings, virus, spyware or operating system errors.
• Remote PC and phone support for digital products, such as digital camera, MP3 players and more.

I wonder if there will be an issue over the name; there's already a ConnecTech, Michigan's so-called "Premier Technology Network."

ConnecTech is for residential customers only (you don't need to be an AT&T subscriber, BTW); you can open a case by visiting http://www.ATT.com/ConnecTech or by calling 1-800-344-1734.

Fair Play? Judge Rules "Fair Use" Must be Considered Before Takedown Notices are Sent

This is a major win for those of us who feel that sometimes organizations such as the MPAA, RIAA or others go overboard in their use of takedown notices. You may remember the so-called "dancing baby" issue, in which a 29-second clip of a baby dancing was ordered taken down by Universal Music Corporation. Why? Because of music in the background: Prince's "Let's Go Crazy."

It would seem obvious that this was "fair use," and that the takedown notice was overkill (and improper). Stephanie Lenz of Gallitzin, PA, realizing what UMC did not, sued them over misrepresentation under the DMCA. UMC naturally moved to dismiss the case, saying, among other things, that it had no obligation to consider whether Lenz's use was fair before sending its notice.

Judge Jeremy Fogel, using common sense along with the law, didn't fall for this argument.

In his ruling on Wednesday (.PDF) he said:

Though Congress did not expressly mention the fair use doctrine in the DMCA, the Copyright Act provides explicitly that “the fair use of a copyrighted work . . . is not an infringement of copyright.” Even if Universal is correct that fair use only excuses infringement, the fact remains that fair use is a lawful use of a copyright. Accordingly, in order for a copyright owner to proceed under the DMCA with “a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,” the owner must evaluate whether the material makes fair use of the copyright.

Fogel also dismissed Universal's contention that copyright holders couldn't efficiently perform their overkill, er, copyright infringement police work if they had to take the time to check for "fair use" before ordering the takedown.

Undoubtedly, some evaluations of fair use will be more complicated than others. But in the majority of cases, a consideration of fair use prior to issuing a takedown notice will not be so complicated as to jeopardize a copyright owner’s ability to respond rapidly to potential infringements. The DMCA already requires copyright owners to make an initial review of the potentially infringing material prior to sending a takedown notice; indeed, it would be impossible to meet any of the requirements of Section 512(c) without doing so.

Like he said, "not so complicated," or as in this case, overly simple.

The clip (below) was put back up on YouTube after about a month. While it's clear that allowing the case to continue already sets a major precedent, Fogel said he doubted Lenz could win the overall case.

Although the Court has considerable doubt that Lenz will be able to prove that Universal acted with the subjective bad faith required by Rossi, and following discovery her claims well may be appropriate for summary judgment, Lenz’s allegations are sufficient at the pleading stage.

Cool: Faster Laptop Fan Speed, Same Power Consumption and Noise

A hot topic, particularly in light of the recent issues with NVIDIA laptop GPUs, is cooling notebooks.

Intel has developed a way to double the air flow generated by notebook cooling fans while using no more power and creating no more noise. Rather than making a big announcement, Intel was demoing a prototype at a booth at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF).

Shown side-by-side with a standard fan, a test using a styrofoam ball showed notably faster speed. Bradley Urban, an engineer from Intel's thermal technology development unit, said "It's a 2x comparison," adding that "As soon as we can get it into production, we will. Maybe two years."

Ah, darn. A speedy fan, but not a speedy intro.

Microsoft to Try "Going Hip" with Seinfeld Ads

Let's be honest: even if you use a PC you have to admit the Apple "Get a Mac" ads are hip, funny, and clever. Despite my PVR, I will stop in the middle of a commercial skip and watch a new "Get a Mac" ad.

The latest "Get a Mac" ad, "Off the Air," ratchets up the rhetoric somewhat by saying that "fear of switching is the foundation of customer loyalty for PCs."



Microsoft's apparently grown weary of these ads and, according to the Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required), Microsoft is ready to unveil a new ad campaign, with the slogan "Windows, Not Walls" as its tagline, and with Jerry Seinfeld as one of the key celebrities involved.

Those people say the point is to stress breaking down barriers that prevent people and ideas from connecting. The campaign, said to debut Sept. 4, is one of the largest in the company's history.

The attempted image overhaul comes as Microsoft executives privately acknowledge that Windows -- the company's most important brand -- has grown stale and has been battered by Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads.

Personally, the message is more important than the spokesperson, IMHO, as it's not like the Apple ads used A-list stars. Obviously now many people know that the Mac Guy is Justin Long (dating Drew Barrymore didn't hurt), and that the PC Guy is John Hodgman, but in the beginning, they were pretty unknown.

"They are not seen as cool," says Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a New York branding firm. "Apple is cool. Can anyone even recall a Microsoft ad? No." Apple and its brand-obsessed CEO, Steve Jobs, have been producing distinctive advertising since its famous "1984" campaign, which debuted that year in the Super Bowl.

Of course not! Microsoft is definitely not cool. What Windows is, however, is ubiquitous. And perhaps that's something else Microsoft should focus on: Windows Everywhere.

Microsoft also plans to feature Bill Gates in the ad. While he's definitely an icon in computing, he's also definitely not cool. The campaign was created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, a Miami-based ad shop that has helped brands such as Burger King recover some of their mojo.

Of course, I would have voted for Stephen Colbert myself. After all, Seinfeld not only showed a Mac on several of his episodes (check the background of the image to the left), he also appeared (briefly) in the Apple "Think Different" TV ad. Oops! No conflict of interest with Colbert!

We'll see what happens, starting Sept. 4th.

Apple Sued Over iPhone's 3G Issues

Well, I mentioned the words "class action" previously, and although this lawsuit hasn't been granted class action status yet, I believe it will, eventually. Alabama resident Jessica Alena Smith filed the complaint (.PDF) Tuesday against Apple.

None of this is new to those of us suffering from what can only be termed an almost complete "3G outage." I work at a company that works on mobile phone software, and any of our other 3G phones work just fine, with full bars of coverage, at work, while the iPhone has 1 bar at best.

Additionally, while some try to pin the problem on AT&T, complaints from other carriers in different countries indicate it's not a network issue.

Jonathan Kudulis, an attorney with Birmingham, Ala.-based Trimmier Law Firm, representing Smith, said:

"Apple sold these devices on the promise that they were twice as fast as the pre-existing phones and that they would function suitably, or properly, on the 3G network. But, thus far, Apple and the phone have failed to deliver on this promise."

Anyone remember that overhyped slogan? "Twice as fast. Half the price." First of all, it wasn't even half the price, since the data plan price has gone up, and you now have to pay separately for text messages. Essentially, as I calculated earlier, it's $160 more for the two-year life of the contract.

What we have here is "same speed, $160 more."

While some at the Apple support forum seem to think Smith is looking for a rich payday, I disagree. The result of these types of lawsuits, particularly if they achieve class-action status, is not riches. What Smith is looking for is for Apple to fix the issue, if necessary recalling and repairing existing phones.

Personally, I'd like to see that additional $10 / month I pay for my so-called 3G plan to be refunded. That and a fix, that's all I want.

Update: I called AT&T and they refunded me an entire month on my data plan. Based on how long I've had it, that more than makes up for the $10 a month extra for my data plan. So, assuming a fix comes in September, I am happy (kinda).

Update 2: Apple deleted a post from their support forum which noted this lawsuit. Apparently they're in stealth mode. It's not unusual, however, for Apple to delete negative posts from their forums.

"The Sims 3" Gets Dated: February 20th

The Electronic Arts (EA) game most people are focused on right now is Spore, which ships Sept. 7th. But there's this other game some may recall, which was also designed by that Will Wright guy: The Sims. And on Wednesday, EA announced at the Leipzig Games Convention that The Sims 3 will be available at retailers worldwide and also via digital download on February 20th, 2009.

In their press release, EA said:

The feature-set includes a new seamless, open neighborhood, new Create-a-Sim, new unique personality traits, new unlimited customization and new gameplay that's quick and rewarding.

The Sims 3 Collector's Edition will also be in stores on February 20, 2009. The Sims 3 Collector's Edition will include the full game along with additional collectable The Sims merchandise and a bonus in-game Italian-Style Sports Car unavailable elsewhere. A limited number of copies of The Sims 3 Collector's Edition will be available worldwide, and those who pre-order the product from select retailers will receive an additional exclusive in-game vintage sports car and a collectible poster that is a first look at the neighborhood, all available while supplies last.

I've never really understood The Sims; performing real-life tasks in a virtual world just doesn't feel fun to me. Yet another reason I haven't tried Second Life.

Still, The Sims is so popular that EA has devoted an entire division (or "label") to it, so who am I to talk?

iPhone Gets Delivered, Complete with Factory Worker Pics

Ever wonder just what the exploited, er, I mean, well-paid worker who built your expensive iPhone looks like? Well, accidental photos have turned up on iPhones before, but this set of pics was intentionally taken. And much as I hate to admit it, this worker's kinda cute.

A MacRumors reader found the photos on his iPhone 3G, and posted them. As he said:

Hi,

Not sure if this is or is not the 'norm' but I just received my brand new iPhone here in the UK and once it had been activated on iTunes I found that the home screen (the screen you can personalise with a photo) already had a photo set against it !!!!

It would appear that someone on the production line was having a bit of fun - has anyone else found this ?

Unfortunately, he used Photobucket and ran out of bandwidth. There's one really good picture of the worker above (click to enlarge) and another below (click to enlarge).

eBay Tilts Toward Sales, Not Auctions

Acknowledging that many eBay buyers prefer listings that have a "Buy It Now" option, eBay announced on Wednesday that it's dropping (significantly) the cost to list an item in the "Buy It Now" format.

The cut in listing costs could be more than 70%, depending on the item, and will take effect Sept. 16th.

Right now, sellers pay between $0.35 and $4 per item listed per week. Now they will pay a flat-rate of $0.35 for a 30-day listing, regardless of the listing price. Also, that same flat fee covers multiple quantities of the same item, whereas currently multiple quantities receive additional fees.

In a press release, Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces said:

"We aim to be the most competitive marketplace online, and this new, incredibly low pricing helps us achieve that goal. A 35 cent listing fee virtually eliminates the upfront cost for sellers to put more of their great inventory on eBay and creates more opportunity than ever for sellers to build successful businesses."

Come on, just admit that people don't really like auctions and waiting to see if they get an item. I don't. The downside for some: I can see all sorts of sniping programs and sites losing business.

Note that books, DVDs, music and video games get an even lower fee: $0.15. A full list of the new fees is here.

Auctions have been eBay's bread-and-butter, though, and they wanted to make sure people know they haven't dropped them.

To that end, Norrington added:

"We love auctions. Auction-style listings remain the ideal choice for sellers who are uncertain about the value of their item, have a scarce item in high demand, or are willing to start at a low price and let bidding determine the final value. With these changes, we’re making sure sellers have competitive opportunities in both formats—auction-style and fixed price."

Copy-and-Paste on the iPhone Gets Closer

One of the most popular "feature asks" for the iPhone is copy-and-paste functionality. Right now, it simply doesn't exist. Until Apple puts it higher on its priority list (obviously crashing apps and 3G connectivity come first), it's going to remain a sought-after missing feature.

The folks over at the OpenClip project seem to be getting close to a solution, however. OpenClip saves copied text into a shared memory area within the iPhone’s memory, which can then be accessed by OpenClip APIs.

Naturally, it's not as elegant as if it were built-into the OS, but if an application adopts OpenClip's framework, it is workable.

What are the roadblocks that have previously prevented this functionality? Well, as OpenClip says:

You can see Open Clip being demoed on GeekBrief.tv below.

Applications are not allowed to run in the background. This means that once the text is copied from an application, leaving the application to paste in another will close the clipboard where the text was being held.

Also, due to Apple's sandbox effect, developers cannot create plug-ins to interact with other applications.

Since OpenClip is a framework, if apps adopt it, they can get around these issues. The list of developers current committed to the project include Dial Zero, Twittelator, Wordpress, Cocktails, Ultralingua, American Heritage, Roget's Thesaurus, and Wall Street Words.

OpenClip admits this is a temporary fix, but as it says:

While just an interim fix until Apple adopts a system-wide version, OpenClip hopes to add to the iPhone user-experience and provide a working case-study for Apple, hopefully allowing them to roll-out their version more quickly.

You can see Open Clip being demoed on GeekBrief.tv below.

IE8 to Get "Private Browsing?"

Private browsing means browsing the web without leaving "tracks," such as cookies, history, cache data, etc., etc. This has been popularly called "porn mode." Only Safari currently supports this feature; it was pulled from Firefox 3 (there is, however, an add-on called Stealther some use).

Some hints around the web seem to point IE8 containing such a "mode." For one, a June 24, 2008 IE blog post on "IE8 and Trustworthy browsing" says (emphasis mine):

That said, there’s more to online privacy than cookies, as cookies are only one implementation of content that can disclose information to websites. In some discussions, people have also described IE7’s Phishing Filter as a privacy feature because it helps protect users from sharing information. The larger challenge here is notifying users clearly about what sites they’re disclosing information to and enabling them to control that disclosure if they choose. As we talk more about privacy, we will broaden the discussion to include additional protections from sharing information that the browser can offer users.

More evidence, , IStartedSomething noticed that Microsoft filed two trademarks on July 30th. They were for:

CLEARTRACKS

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: computer programs for accessing and using the Internet and the world wide web; and computer programs for deleting search history after accessing websites

INPRIVATE

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: computer programs for accessing and using the Internet and the world wide web; computer programs for disabling the history and file caching features of a web browser; and computer software for notifying a user of a web browser when others are tracking web use and for controlling the information others can access about such use

Although "private browsing" didn't get into Firefox 3, they do have a "use case" page for it. It states that:

Many people believe that the primary use case for private browsing mode is viewing pornography. While viewing pornography may be a popular use case due to the nature of content on the Web, assuming that this is the only reason that users need private browsing trivializes the overall feature. For instance, users may wish to begin a private browsing session to research a medical condition, or plan a surprise vacation or birthday party for a loved one. Use cases will range from users cheating on their spouse, to users buying engagement rings. Given the breadth of our user base, specific use cases are likely to be extremely varied.

Yes, I guess that "porn mode" nickname does trivialize it. Interesting that they mention "cheating on their spouse." I guess they ran out of non-controversial use cases after "planning a birthday party."

Here's one: watch Forensic Files and see how many people get caught because they don't delete their browser cache.

OK, OK, all in fun, but seriously, if IE8 gets this, Firefox will be missing a feature IE supports. Dang.

Jobs Vows Still Another iPhone Fix for September

Let's hope Steve Jobs isn't making promises he can't keep. Earlier I wrote that, in one of the short, brief emails that sometimes respond to questions made directly to Jobs, the 3G connection problems many have been seeing were acknowledged, and a fix was promised.

We are working on some bugs which affect around 2% of the iPhones shipped, and hope to have a software update soon.

Steve

Now, according to further reports, a similar promise was made with regards to the crashing bug which has hit the 2.0 software; many non-default apps crash almost immediately and return to the home screen.

According to AppleInsider, the email response was short and to the point:

This is a known iPhone bug that is being fixed in the next software update in September.

Aha. If in fact this is another terse message from Steve Jobs (or his stand-in, as it were), it appears indeed that we will be seeing an update in September.

While I'm sure the crashing bug is important to some, the 3G bug is more important to many. Particularly, I have to point out, since we are paying $10 more for our data plans than original iPhone owners with EDGE.

While USA Today reported that Apple admitted (finally) that the 2.0.2 update was supposed to partially fix the 3G issues, it didn't work for many (including me), and a broader fix is planned for September.

Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock said on Tuesday:

"The software update improves communication with 3G networks."

Well, it did absolutely nothing for me, and some report worse 3G coverage after the update.

Meanwhile, Michael Gartenberg, Vice President for mobile strategy at Jupitermedia, implied the connection issue may be overblown.

"We've seen these isolated reports about people having connectivity issues with 3G and Edge, and frankly I have those issues on a variety of phones. Cellphone coverage is tricky."

He has a point. Except for the fact that I work with mobile phones, and I can stick several 3G phones in a row on my desk and the only one with 1/2 bar at my office will be the iPhone. Everything else will have 4 - 5 bars. Sorry to disappoint, but it's a real issue.

Microsoft's Pause Button for Email

I wrote earlier about Microsoft's Office Labs project called "Search Commands" which helps users find Office commands that the Ribbon wants to hide from them. Here's another one, which purports to be a "pause button" for email, but actually offers a lot more than that.

It's called Email Prioritizer, and as Microsoft says:

Our latest prototype, Email Prioritizer, includes these features:

• A "Do Not Disturb" button that stops incoming mail delivery so you can work without interruptions.
  

• Email priorities are assigned to incoming mail so you can focus on the most important mail first. With a “0-3 stars” ranking system, you can focus on email messages that are most important to you. These priorities are based on algorithms from Microsoft Research.

Now, the "Do Not Disturb" button: that would go over like a lead balloon in most offices (except those with things like email-free Fridays). However, the prioritization of emails, now that I find interesting.

You obviously have to "train" the software to know what kind of priority to assign to each incoming email, but once done, it's pretty useful.

Of course, the problem with this: you need to be using Office 2007. Heavy sigh: it figures. Still, this could turn out to be a rather interesting add-in, if you're OK with trying pre-release software.

Yahoo!'s Buzz Opens to All

Earlier this year, Yahoo! opened its Buzz social news service, and its been very successful, surpassing Digg in terms of unique U.S. visitors. One noteworthy difference between Buzz and other sites is that only approved publishers were able to submit stories. However, on Monday Yahoo! opened Buzz up to all publishers.

The promotion aspect of Buzz, whereby hot stories get promoted to the Yahoo! front page, is a big draw for publishers. So you can expect that a lot of publishers would will be submitting their content to the site. As Yahoo! said in their press release announcing the change:

We started with about 100 publishing partners, which quickly grew to more than 400. Sites like Salon.com and GigaOm immediately saw an impact as their traffic soared when content climbed up the list and got selected for Yahoo.com. Now that benefit can come to any site online, making it possible to give as much visibility to extraordinary content from an obscure site as major news stories from big publishers.

What does this mean for you? Anything you find on the Web is now buzzable. Any of the Web’s best current event stories, gossip, photos, videos and more can be submitted and shared on Yahoo! Buzz. You’ve already seen the “Buzz Up” buttons on many of your favorite sites, including New York Times, Us Weekly and BoingBoing. Now, as any site is able to add our button, you’ll have even more places to buzz to your heart’s content. And if you don’t see that button on a Web story you just have to share, you can submit a story right on Yahoo! Buzz. Like always, the more unique and compelling the story, the better chance your story of choice will buzz up to the Yahoo! homepage. Nice!

However, Buzz isn't just about voting for, or rather, buzzing up a story. There's an editorial team in charge, so don't get all excited and start to think you can "game" the system. Chances are small to none that it would work.

Surprising (?) Feature Request for Windows 7: "Make Windows Faster"

And no, they didn't mean make it faster with faster hardware. I wrote earlier about Microsoft's new Windows 7 blog, and in their second blog post, Microsoft (specifically, Microsoft Senior VP Steven Sinofsky) wrote about the myriad of comments and suggestions for Windows 7 they've received since the blog went live. And what caught their eye?

I would say by and large the reception has been very warm and we definitely appreciate that. The most frequent request was to discuss Windows performance and/or just “make Windows faster”. There’s a lot to this topic so we expect to talk about this quite a bit over the next months.

Ah yes, performance, one of the big issues with so-called "Vista-Capable" PCs, which were anything but. Well, they were capable of running it, just not well, and as revealed by past Microsoft emails, they knew it.

Indeed, some of the slowdown of Vista vs. XP is all the friendliness and feature-richness of the OS (i.e., bloat). It doesn't look like Windows 7 will be slimmed down by any means, looking at
"some of the main feature teams" ---

• Applets and Gadgets
• Assistance and Support Technologies
• Core User Experience
• Customer Engineering and Telemetry
• Deployment and Component Platform
• Desktop Graphics
• Devices and Media
• Devices and Storage
• Documents and Printing
• Engineering System and Tools
• File System
• Find and Organize
• Fundamentals
• Internet Explorer (including IE 8 down-level)
• International
• Kernel & VM
• Media Center
• Networking - Core
• Networking - Enterprise
• Networking - Wireless
• Security
• User Interface Platform
• Windows App Platform

Whew. How big a hard drive will I need for Windows 7?

Apple Leads in PC Customer Satisfaction for Fifth Straight Year

On Tuesday the University of Michigan released its annual American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scores Tuesday for the PC industry, and Apple took the top spot for the fifth straight year. Dell was in second place, 10 points behind (85 - 75).

ACSI details for the PC industry were provided in a report (.PDF) on overall customer satisfaction, in which Professor Claes Fornell, head of the ACSI at the University of Michigan said:

"It’s hard not to be impressed with Apple. This is product extension at its best where the new products, iPod and iPhone, are helping bring new customers to existing computer products. The fact that Apple is not dependent on the Windows Vista operating system hasn’t hurt either."

You've gotten imagine that jab at Windows Vista didn't go over well with Microsoft, assuming they read the report. Of course, as we know from the "Mojave Experiment" Microsoft conducted, some of the issues over Vista are strictly based on perception. Further details from the report:

The personal computer industry suffers a second consecutive drop in satisfaction, falling 1% to 74 and losing all gains made since 2005. Apple defies the industry by moving in the opposite direction and posting its largest gain ever to 85, a new all-time high for the industry. The 8% leap puts 10 points between Apple and its nearest rival, one of the largest gaps between first and second in any industry measured by ACSI. As Apple’s satisfaction improves, so too have its sales, market share, net income, and stock price.

The industry aggregate decline is largely for Windows-based machines –Hewlett-Packard (73), Gateway (72), and Compaq (70) each sink 4%. The exception is Dell – up 1% to 75.

Click the above image to enlarge.

BTW, for those wanting to throw their iPhone 3G and MobileMe subscriptions into the trash, remember this is a survey related to computers. Additionally, it was conducted during the second quarter, too early for any iPhone / MobileMe issues to color respondents' opinions.

Japan Warns Over iPod nano Fires

It's been a bad few weeks for Apple. MobileMe issues, iPhone 3G connectivity problems, and on Tuesday Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) reported that two new reports of minor fires due to suspected iPod nano battery overheating occurred in Tokyo this month.

Of course, it's not like Apple wasn't warned; Japan reported suspected nano battery overheating in March. According to the ministry, Apple has been notified of a total of 14 similar cases in Japan.

These were all older nanos, much like the one in the U.S. I reported on last year, which similarly caught fire. I haven't heard anything further on that report, however.

An official at METI said the incidents occurred amon four models -- MA004J/A, MA005J/A, MA099J/A and MA107J/A. A total of 1.81 million such units were sold between September 2005 and September 2006 in Japan.

In a statement, the ministry warned users to be careful during recharging, saying:

"Users need to be careful about overheating of the machines. Our ministry told Apple to improve its technological development and probe the cause of the incidents so that similar incidents do not happen again."

Earlier this year there was a similar report of a PSP fire. And naturally we've seen many reports of Li-ion batteries in laptops overheating. Of course, those batteries are more "stressed," as manufacturers obvious want maximal life from laptop power.

Apple is, of course, quiet with regards to this issue, as is typical.

MobileMe Users Get Another Subscription Extension

All I can say is: I hope Apple gives iPhone users the same level of love as MobileMe userse are getting, to make up for the horrible 3G problems some of us (incuding me) have been having.

In July Apple announced a 30-day extension to qualified MobileMe users; realizing just how screwed up things still are, Apple is giving users another extension. This one is for 60-days.

On the web page announcing the extension, Apple said:

Why is Apple granting a 60-day subscription extension?

The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was rockier than we had hoped. While we are making a lot of improvements, the MobileMe service is still not up to our standards. We are extending subscriptions 60-days free of charge to express appreciation for our members’ patience as we continue to improve the service.

Am I eligible for the 60-day extension?

You are eligible if you are a MobileMe member whose account was active as of August 19, 2008 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time.

I missed out last time, but this time I qualify.

We already know that Steve Jobs admitted the MobileMe launch was not as smooth as they had hoped. While this is all great, I'm still waiting for the credit to my AT&T account for the lack of 3G service that I've been seeing.

Of course, that's all wishful thinking, but that would be an "apology" on the level of this one.

Google Launches "Free The Airwaves"

Google's been chomping at the bit over "white space," which is unused spectrum that resides next to broadcast TV spectrum, for some time now. On Monday it, announced the launch of Free the Airwaves, a site promoting the unlicensed use of "white space" spectrum.

While definitely not altruistic, it certainly sells itself as such, saying its aim is to "Bring wireless Internet to everyone, everywhere."

In their blog post announcing the site, Google said:

For quite some time we've been talking about the potential of the unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels ("white spaces") to provide affordable, high-speed wireless Internet connectivity nationwide. For this to happen, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must allow unlicensed use of this spectrum.

If you care about the future of the Internet, now is the time to take action. The FCC has completed its field testing and is expected to make a ruling in the coming months. With this in mind, today we're launching Free The Airwaves, a new effort to bring users together around this important issue.

At its core, Free The Airwaves is a call to action for everyday users. You don't need to be a telecommunications expert to understand that freeing the "white spaces" has the potential to transform wireless Internet as we know it. When you visit the site, you'll be invited to film a video response explaining what increased Internet access could mean for you, to sign a petition to the FCC, to contact your elected officials, to spread the word, and more.

The site has a number of video testimonials on the subject of "white space," including Matthew Rantanen of Tribal Digital Village, Wally Bowen of the Mountain Area Information Network, and others.

But, as I said, it's not altruistic. In March, in an ex parte filing with the FCC (.PDF), Google's Washington-based counsel Richard Whitt advised commissioners that the abundance of unused airspace could provide "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide ubiquitous wireless broadband access to all Americans."

But he also went on to cite how it could help Google's bid to launch services on Android phones:

"Coupled with the 'Android' open source platform for mobile consumer devices, TV white spaces can provide uniquely low-cost mobile broadband coverage for all Americans. As announced last fall, over thirty other companies are working with Google through the Open Handset Alliance to develop a fully open source software stack, including the operating system, middleware, and user applications. Android-powered handsets should begin appearing commercially later this year, and would be an excellent match for the TV white space."

It may be a little too early to tell if this is all technically feasible. If this is to work, "white space devices"must be able to detect when designated frequencies are in use by other transmitters, and then shift their own frequencies. We know how well that works on wireless-n routers which are supposed to shift frequencies to prevent "bad neighbor" behavior.

We already have enough problems just making 3G work, whether it's on the iPhone or not; many believe trying to sneak into the unused spaces in the spectrum is just asking for trouble.

The FCC is expected to announce its test findings next month.

Google's Android, the HTC Dream, Receives FCC Approval

The rumored Sept.17th announcement of the HTC Dream (AKA gPhone or G1, or whatever) keeps getting more and more solid, as the new device has received FCC approval.

As we previously wrote, the first carrier to get their hands on this phone, which is supposedly the only Android phone to arrive in 2008, will be T-Mobile.

FCC paperwork is here.

You can't tell much based on these documents, but it seems that the HTC Dream will have wi-fi and Bluetooth (not that anything would launch without BT nowadays). Navigation apparently will be handled by a jogball, as was noted in the prior video.

Start checking the state of your mobile contract, if you're considering jumping to T-Mobile for this.

After Losing the Hi-Def Optical Drive War, Toshiba to Focus on --- DVD?

Since Toshiba lost the high-definition optical drive war earlier this year, many have wondered how soon it would offer a Blu-ray player of its own. The answer, at least for now, is "not anytime soon."

Instead, Toshiba is focusing on upscaling DVD players, and it released on Monday the XD-E500 DVD player. The XD-E500 has an MSRP of $149.99, which is twice as much as regular "upconverting" players, but it is less than half the price of a Blu-ray player.

Toshiba demo'ed the player to reporters last week, playing the same disc in an XD-E player and a standard, $70 upscaling (Toshiba) model on side-by-side identical LCD HDTVs. According to reports, the different was subtle, but clearly the XD-E player had a sharper image.

Toshiba is capitalizing on the slow uptake of Blu-ray; a recent study by ABI Research showed that most consumers are perfectly happy with DVD, upscaled or not.

ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson said:

"Consumers were happy to embrace standard DVD when that format arrived because the improvement in quality over VHS videotapes was dramatic. Standard DVD didn’t require the purchase of a new TV either. In contrast, while half of the respondents to our survey rated Blu-ray’s quality as ‘much better’ than standard DVD, another 40% termed it only ‘somewhat better,’ and most are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players."

Still, it would be interesting to see how a Toshiba Blu-ray player would fare against a Sony one, if for no other reason than possible revenge on Toshiba's part.

"Cloud Computing" and Dell PR: Please Remove the (tm)

As I wrote earlier, the USPTO was on the verge of granting Dell a trademark for the term "cloud computing," when media focus on the issue made them think better of it, and they decide to re-review the application.

Sorry, Dell, looks like they came to their senses.

If you check the latest update to Dell's application, you'll see the USPTO has issued a "Non-Final Office Action." Note the words non-final; according to the document Dell has six months to respond.

The USPTO said:

Registration Refused – Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1) Merely Descriptive

Registration is refused because the applied-for mark merely describes a feature and characteristic of applicant’s services.

It seems what Dell was actually trying to protect was its Cloud Computing Solutions (which still carries a (tm)), which can be reached via http://www.cloudcomputing.com, which redirects to http://www.dell.com/cloudcomputing.

In fact, at the time the re-review was announced, Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn explained to C|Net that Dell applied for the trademark on March 23, 2007 when it had just announced the above service.

"The application was to protect the use of the term 'cloud computing' as it relates specifically to our offering. At the time when we announced our solution, it was not quite as pervasive a term. We sought to protect our intellectual property, and we certainly respect the intellectual property of other people and would not infringe on that of others."

Of course, that's fine, trademark Cloud Computing Solutions. But "cloud computing?" That's a little much.

Apple Releases iPhone 2.0.2 Update

Is this it? Is this it? Today Apple quietly released an upgrade for the iPhone, 2.0.2. Typical of such releases, there's no discussion of what's really been fixed, aside from a vague reference to "bug fixes."

However, checking the Apple support forums, if this was meant to fix the problems that exist with the 2% of iPhones that Steve Jobs said have an issue with 3G performance, perhaps it only fixes 2% of that 2%. Most people see little or no improvement.

The update is sizeable, weighing in at 248.7 megabytes, nearly as large as the last update (249.2 MB).

More details after I get it on my own iPhone 3G.

Update: Well, hard to say. At first I thought there was no improvement, with 1/2 bar showing. 10 minutes later, 5 bars. 10 more minutes, and back to 1/2 bar.

OK, I changed my mind: there is no improvement.

Additionally, there's been some information dished, from former Apple employee Chuq Von Rospach. It is of course, unsubstantiated, but could be taken as good, or bad, depending.

What I was told was that 90% of the disconnects are initiated inside the phone, which would exonerate AT&T. Most of the disconnects are being generated by crashes in the driver code for the 3G chip, which comes from the chip vendor, not something Apple written and outside of Apple's direct control. Complicating this -- even though Apple is handing over "here is the bug, here is the fix, update the driver", the turnaround from the vendor on driver updates is on the order of 2-3 months. Said, um, lack of urgency not exactly making people inside the projects happy.

The best aspect of this rumor (if true) is that the hardware is fine; once they can get the drivers fixed (or replaced), the units should be fine. Thinking "recall" is unecessary and overkill, the real question seems to be how quickly Apple can beat the fixes out of the vendor.

If true, it's great because the hardware is fine. What's bad is that Infineon is a foot-dragger. If not true, who knows? I'm still stuck with 1/2 bar while a Q9h right next to my iPhone has full bars.

Rumored Steve Jobs Email Says 2% of iPhones Affected by 3G Problems, Fix Coming

Assuming Cote Collaborative is correct, Apple sold 3 million iPhone 3Gs in the first month, and assuming that we believe a report indicating that a MacRumors reader received an email from Steve Jobs saying the following:

We are working on some bugs which affect around 2% of the iPhones shipped, and hope to have a software update soon.

Steve

then the iPhone's 3G connectivity problem affects about 60,000 phones. Apple has replied to emails to Steve Jobs with brief responses before (most likely someone speaking on his behalf), so the email is possible. However, while I believe there is no doubt there is a problem, I would say mark this report with a big "rumor" stamp.

After all,

• there weren't any email headers provided
• from the worldwide reports of issues, it sounds like a lot more than 60,000
• if it's 2% of the iPhones shipped, some users have horrible luck

I've expressed my doubts about the low "problem percentages" tossed about for some time, as well as to whether or not Apple can fix this with software. Assuming they do roll out a fix, let's hope it's not a band-aid as in the case of the NVIDIA mobile GPU issue.

And please, please, Apple, can we get some openness around this? I mean real openness.

Bono Helps Pirates Snag U2's New Album

Ah yes, music piracy. But if your own star isn't exactly close-mouthed (pun intended) with his new tracks, what can you do?

U2 has recently put the finishing touches to their first studio album in four years. Four of those songs found their way to the Internet after Bono played the songs a bit too loudly on his stereo at his villa in the south of France. A sharp-eared passerby recorded the songs and apparently posted the songs to YouTube, according to The Sun.

Of course, they didn't stick around on YouTube very long.

The upcoming album is called "No Line On The Horizon."

While this is, of course, offbeat and funny news, it's hardly that important a leak. Assuming what's on the web is current and correct, a simple search for torrents shows quite a few with the entire album. And no, I didn't download any of them to check.

What's a Goofy Webmail Address Reveal About You? More Than You Might Think

Ah, what better week to announce such a study than the weekend of the American Psychological Association (APA) national convention?

Ever wonder if choosing a webmail address such as honey.bunny77@hotmail.com says anything about your personality? Well, researchers at the University of Leipzig did, and they recently published a paper in the Journal of Research in Personality (.PDF), titled "How extraverted is honey.bunny77@hotmail.de? Inferring personality from e-mail addresses."

The paper was co-authored by Mitja D. Back, Stefan C. Schmukle, and Boris Egloff of the
Department of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

According to the paper,

Using 599 e-mail addresses of young adults, their self-reported personality scores and the personality judgments of 100 independent observers, it was shown that personality impressions based solely on e-mail addresses were consensually shared by observers. Moreover, these impressions contained some degree of validity. This was true for neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and narcissism but not for extraversion.

I decided at this point that I was in need of a little translation, I went to my psychologist wife (who presented this weekend at the APA convention, plug, plug).

Note for one thing that the paper refers to extraverts, which is just another name for the more commonly termed extroverts.

Partipants were asked to make a determination as to whether a user was:

• neurotic
• open
• agreeable
• conscientious
• narcissistic
• extraverted

Based on the user's email address. The determinations were then cross-correlated against self-determinations by the users themselves. Of course, based on what I understand from my wife, I'm not sure narcissists would be that great at picking themselves out, but anyway ...

Participants were able to make good determinations about all the traits, except on extraversion. Strangely, participants usually had strong opinions about whether or not a user was an extravert; they were just wrong.

In sum, we were able to show that the e-mail addresses (‘‘nomen”) we use can influence the impressions we make on other people. Moreover—and even more interestingly—these impressions contain a kernel of truth (‘‘est omen”) for five of six personality dimensions. In light of the extreme narrowness of information and the complex processes involved in making accurate judgments, the mere existence of above chance level accuracy in personality judgments based on e-mail addresses is remarkable.

In other words, be careful what you pick as an email address: it shows something about yourself which others will judge you on, and for the most part, they will be accurate.

So you with the iamthebest@gmail.com email address: narcissistic much?

Microsoft Readies Windows Feature Pack for Storage

OK, Microsoft, I'd better not hear about this being called a Vista Ultimate Extra. After all, we're still waiting for those wonderfully missing Extras you promised Vista Ultimate buyers.

On the other hand, since this is scheduled to be a freebie that will add Active Storage Platform, Blu-Ray media and smart-card driver functionality to Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, maybe I should stop complaining and start applauding.

This pack was available as an undisclosed private beta until recently, but now info on the pack is available for the public to peruse on the Microsoft Connect site, whether by design or accident:

Welcome to the Microsoft Connect website for the Windows Feature Pack for Storage.

There are 3 technologies available for this Pre-Release-Each will have its own installer:

• Active Storage Platform: This pre-release package enables the Windows platform to restrict access to portable devices (such as a USB Flash Device) via a certificate or password authentication based on the IEEE 1667 standard specification.
  

• Image Mastering API update for Blu-Ray media: This feature enables the Windows platform to do master style optical burning on Blu-Ray media.
  

• Smart Card Driver: This release provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD/CCID.

According to ZDNet Microsoft added the following information:

“The (forthcoming storage pack) release is a follow-on to the feature pack released in 2007, which provided down-level optical platform support. The current feature pack plans to update the optical platform as well as provide support for some additional storage devices. The release plans have not been announced.”

An anonymous tester also said the following:

“It’s going to be one of these free updates that doesn’t necessarily create a lot of buzz, but once it’s out and people are use to it, they’ll wonder how they ever lived with out it…especially the ability in the base OS (operating system) to control removable media.”

Sounds great. I can hardly wait (all right, all right, I can). Now, about those Extras ...

iPhone 3G Reception to Improve in September --- or Not

There's something definitely wrong with the iPhone's 3G reception. The evidence is undeniable, and as it's scattered across the globe, it sure can't be completely blamed on AT&T, much as we might want to.

Rumors are that Apple is working on a firmware fix to correct the issue, which more than one source has said is related to the iPhone 3G's Infinenon chipset. On Friday, in fact, Business Week said that the firmware update is due in September.

However, the question is: how can a chipset problem be fixed by a firmware upgrade? Or can it, at all?

If the chipset itself is programmed by portions of the iPhone firmware, and that's what's causing the problem, it could in fact be fixed this way. But if that's the case, if in fact it's simply Apple programing the chipset to require too strong a signal, as has been rumored, you would think it would be a pretty quick fix. What's the hold-up?

I think the description of the programming error is off the mark. After all, if that was the case, the iPhone should switch to EDGE and be OK there. Users report iPhones switching back and forth between 3G and EDGE while sitting still, or even having no 3G signal and still not switching.

Of course, something like that could be related to software as well, as I can attest to since I work with various mobile phones.

On the other hand, it's possible the chipset has a hardware issue, and if so, then there may be no fix --- short of replacing the chipset --- available at all.

In fact, as Jack Gold, an analyst with Strategic Consulting told Computerworld via email,

"I'd be surprised if it is as simple as a firmware upgrade of the chip, so it is more likely that existing devices will have this defect forever."

If that's the case, I would expect there to be a huge backlash. After all, iPhone 3G users are paying $10 more per month for their data plans than original iPhone users. After all, it's 3G, right?

But if users are not getting 3G, how is that fair? Answer: it's not. Possible result: class-action lawsuit.

It would be nice if Apple gave some sort of indication as to what's going on, as well as some sort of real solution for iPhone 3G owners, even a recall, if necessary. If they don't, it would be the first real customer support failure since the company's resurgence, and it could destroy the inroads Apple has made with mainstream buyers, apart from the cult audience it used to be restricted to.

I would assume Steve Jobs would be able to see that possibility, and do the right thing if a recall is necessary. If not, and a class action suit were available, I'd certainly join it.

Lenovo Announces the ThinkPad X301. They Can Built It --- Better, Stronger, Faster.

The Lenovo Thinkpad X300 is cool, but now it's been surpassed. Lenovo has announced a better, stronger, faster laptop, the X301 (go figure). The X301 ups the ante with, according to Lenovo, on average nearly 20% better performance over the X300 by adding DDR3 RAM and "the latest Intel Core 2 Duo ultra low volt processor."

That CPU would be the as-yet-unreleased Intel Core 2 Duo ULV (ultra low voltage) U9300 (1.2GHz) and U9400 (1.4GHz) models, both with a 6MB L2 cache and 1066MHz FSB.

SSD size will rise to the occasion, with the same 64 GB SSD available, but also a 128 GB option. The laptop will include a DisplayPort jack, GPS, and up to 250% better mobile broadband. A WiMAX version will appear later this year.

Much of the rest of the laptop will remain as is, with a 13.3" LED backlit display.

Pricing? Starts at $2,599. Availability? August 26th, but the 128 GB SSD option won't show up until September.

In an emailed press release, Sam Dusi, vice president, worldwide notebook product marketing, Lenovo, said:

"Lenovo continues to push the technology envelope by giving road warriors the latest enhancements in solid state drive storage and digital display technologies with the new ThinkPad X301 notebook PC. This announcement extends our commitment to blending ultraportability and functionality, and equipping today’s business users with the most advanced, highest-performing computing tools."

Their latest MacBook Air challenger, right? And it has plenty to take on the MBA with, except that it has to overcome Apple's perceived mojo.

Additional info from the press release:

Like its predecessor, the industry-acclaimed ThinkPad X300 notebook, the ThinkPad X301 notebook offers cutting-edge features and technologies in a thin and light form starting at less than three pounds and one-inch thin. The notebook offers even greater storage capacity with choices of either 64 GB or new 128 GB solid state drive storage available in September. The ThinkPad X301 notebook provides on average nearly 20 percent better performance over the ThinkPad X300 notebook due to the latest DDR3 memory and the latest Intel Core 2 Duo ultra low volt processor.

New support for DisplayPort makes viewing high definition content easy and ideal for models with the ultra-thin DVD burner. With support for both DisplayPort and VGA, users can even watch high definition content on multiple displays. Designed for maximum options for wireless connectivity, the ThinkPad X301 notebook offers models with high-speed mobile broadband3 and WiFi to connect wirelessly to the Internet, and also with Bluetooth and Ultra-Wideband technology to connect wirelessly to other devices. Lenovo offers improved uplink performance by up to 250 percent for models with AT&T mobile broadband over previous ThinkPad notebooks with AT&T mobile broadband4. Models supporting WiMAX will be available later this year. Additionally, GPS on notebook models with high speed mobile broadband allow travelers to more easily navigate to the office or airport.

TSA: CheckPoint-Friendly Laptop Bag Rules Take Effect

Ever had to take your laptop out of its bag and had it gone over with a fine-tooth comb at an airport? I have, and they turned it on, and ran over it with a swab to check for explosive residue. Yet another time-eating ritual.

On Friday the TSA announced that Saturday, new laptop bag rules would go into effect, and laptops would be allowed to stay in some laptop bags deemed "checkpoint-friendly." The TSA asked asked laptop bag manufacturers to design bags that would not obstruct the image of a laptop when put through an X-ray machine, and chose the three styles above, butterfly, trifold, and sleeve, after submissions were made.

In a press release, the TSA said (emphasis mine):

If you intend to use a 'checkpoint friendly' laptop bag once they are on the market, make sure to check that:

• Your laptop bag has a designated laptop-only section that can lay flat on the X-ray belt
• There are no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on-top of the laptop-only section
• There are no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section
• There is nothing in the laptop compartment other than the laptop
• You have completely unfolded your bag so that there is nothing above or below the laptop-only section, allowing the bag to lay flat on the X-ray belt
  

Remember, a well designed 'checkpoint friendly' bag must be packed appropriately if you intend to leave your laptop in your bag for screening.

Yes, you still have to unfold the bag completely, and the TSA went on to say that just because they have these no procedures in place doesn't mean your laptop won't get extra examination.

Given TSA’s use of random screening protocols, TSA reserves the right to re-screen any bag or laptop regardless of the design of the bag.

Google's Android to Launch Sept. 17th?

A story about a cell phone, and it's not the iPhone? Well, as I said before, if anything can cause people to write about a different cell phone, it's Android. When a relatively small, unofficial T-Mobile blog like TMONews writes about a possible launch, that's one thing, but when the New York Times confirms it, that's another.

The phone, alternatively called the HTC Dream or the G1, is a touch-screen device with a slider keyboard. There's even been a video supposedly of it leaked (below). It should be noted that the NY Times had a source confirm that the video appears to be the real deal.

The rumored price: $150 for the first week only --- and only for current T-Mobile subscribers. After that, the price will rise to between $250 and $400. This is a strange pricing arrangement, but it smacks of what happens when something is exclusive, and projected to be a hot seller.

The Dream is supposedly the only Android device that will launch this year. The good thing for T-Mobile is that since it's 3G network is undeveloped (only Las Vegas and New York expect to have full T-Mobile 3G networks at launch), it won't be hearing complaints about 3G coverage as Apple has.

Watch the video:

Shatner Can Now Say "Get a Life" Virtually

Well, William Shatner could, if he was still associated with Live Autographs, but it appears his association ended after a signing event he participated in earlier this week. I'm assuming, of course, you remember that classic SNL sketch from 1986, where Shatner spoofed his convention experiences.

Live Autographs, according to their site, offers the following experience:

• A personalized celebrity video message
• Authentic autographed memorabilia
• Plus, a free video download that captures and confirms all the action

While you can't get Shatner any longer, there are a bunch of other celebrities currently signed up (including a ton from Lost, if you're a fan of that show), such as Danica Patrick, Hulk ogan, Cindy Margolis, Steve Austin, etc.

You type the message you want them to say or question you want answered, and assuming it doesn't violate the site's Terms of Service, the celebrity will respond on video, as well as autograph the memorabilia you choose.

According to Reuters, Shatner gave a curt, virtual "Get a Life" sort of response to someone who asked him if he would rather captain a starship or be an entertainer:

"I can't even understand your question, but I want you to understand -- I'm an actor."

Of course, he was kinder to others.

There is a piece of Shatner memorabilia still up on the site, but clicking on it just gets you a (mostly) blank page in return.

Fees? Depends on the item chosen. If I were Live Autographs, I'd change the way the site works. If you want to select, say, a picture of Carmen Electra, there doesn't seem to be a way to get it full-screen (or even, non-thumbnailed). And if I was interested, I'd really like to see what I'm getting.

Definitely still beta, as the site itself says.

BTW, for those who may have forgotten that sketch, one of the best of all time on SNL, IMHO, here's the climactic part:

How Not to Share Your Magazines: Online

You buy a magazine. You're free to give it to a friend for him to read. That's the First Sale doctrine, which allows you to sell or give away something you've purchased. What it doesn't allow you to do is copy it.

Mygazines.com doesn't agree with that, however. According to the site:

Mygazines is your free place to browse, share, archive and customize unlimited magazine articles uploaded by you, the Mygazines community.

Oh yes, you read that right. Users upload magazines to the site and you can read either whole magazines or articles. You can even take specific articles from different magazines and combine them into your own "mygazine."

Besides the obvious: "why would anyone want to take time to scan their magazines and upload them" ... and the also obvious "most of this content is avaiable online anyway," there's the "this is so infringing on copyright."

Of course, there was at least one Maxim calendar there; you probably can't find that online.

The scans are also very good. So good, it makes you wonder if they might have had their own staff do it (ahem) to attract users.

The site did take the precaution of registering their domain name in Anguilla. And their contact name is so unsuspicious, too:

owner-name: Salveo Limited
organisation: Salveo Limited
person: John Smith
address: Mitchell House
zipcode: P.O. Box 17
city: The Valley
country: Anguilla
phone: +40.312249340

Hey, there's a phone number! Oh, no one answers. Hey, there's a Salveo, Ltd. in the U.K.! Oh, they're not affiliated. Hmmm. Curiouser and curiouser.

Frankly, their method of flipping the pages in a magazine is kinda cool (I hate to say it). On the other hand, I'm not sure how they're going to make money, since memberships are free. AP says several magazine publishers are considering legal action (no!).

It's unclear how they'd get someone in Anguilla into U.S. court, but hey, knock yourselves out. Since it doesn't appear there's a way to make money from this site, it'll probably die out soon enough anyway.

Update: It didn't take long. In mid-October, this site bit the dust.

Get Your AT&T iPhone 3Gs Online, If ...

If you have an AT&T Premier account, through your work or other means, anyway. Yep, although AT&T and Apple aren't going to sell it online to everyone, as they did with the original iPhone, you can order it through AT&T, if you don't mind waiting 7 - 10 business days for delivery (of course, this also means you don't have to stand in line). Click the above for a larger image.

Don't get your hopes up: standard pricing applies. Yep, if you don't qualify for a phone upgrade, expect to pay full price.

The good news is that you'll be able to join all of us (including myself) who are enjoying the iPhone 3G experience. without leaving the comfort of your home. You know, missed calls, dropped calls, no connectivity. Seriously though, I love the phone; I just want that update to fix it now.

Windows 7's Coming Out Party? In October

Microsoft has created a blog dedicated to Windows 7, the upcoming (in 2010, according to Microsoft) successor to Windows Vista. The first post in the blog, Microsoft said that first in-depth technical details will come at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), both scheduled for October.

We have two significant events for developers and the overall ecosystem around Windows this fall. The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) on October 27 and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) the following week both represent the first venues where we will provide in-depth technical information about Windows 7. This blog will provide context over the next 2+ months with regular posts about the behind the scenes development of the release and continue through the release of the product.

The blog, Engineering Windows 7 or E7, will be written by the two senior engineering managers for the Windows 7 product, Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky.

They go on to discuss the rather close-mouthed approach Microsoft has taken with regards to Windows 7 so far (though it's certainly not Apple-level paranoia).

We, as a team, definitely learned some lessons about “disclosure” and how we can all too easily get ahead of ourselves in talking about features before our understanding of them is solid. Our intent with Windows 7 and the pre-release communication is to make sure that we have a reasonable degree of confidence in what we talk about when we do talk. Again, top of mind for us is the responsibility we feel to make sure we are not stressing priorities, churning resource allocations, or causing strategic confusion among the tens of thousands of partners and customers who care deeply and have much invested in the evolution of Windows.

Related to disclosure is the idea of how we make sure not to set expectations around the release that end up disappointing you—features that don’t make it, claims that don’t stick, or support we don’t provide. Starting from the first days of developing Windows 7, we have committed as a team to “promise and deliver”. That’s our goal—share with you what we’re going to get done, why we’re doing it, and deliver it with high quality and on time.

In other words, we screwed up with Vista, announced features we had to drop, and we don't want to do that again. Still, according to the blog, Microsoft wants "an open and honest, and two-way, discussion" about Windows 7, so expect there to be lots more info dished, starting in October.

Psystar: We're Still Shipping

Despite being sued by Apple in mid-July, Mac clone maker Psystar is still in business. I know; I'm amazed, too. In a post on their site, the company said:

Recently, our sales team has received several inquiries as to whether or not our systems are still available. Psystar is definitely still shipping Open Computing products and we've introduced our restore utilities to enhance the computing experience for our customers at no extra cost. We strive to provide the best computers we possibly can and are actively improving all of our products taking all your valuable feedback into consideration.

Not only that, their statement mentions "restore utilities." Yep, they've addressed one of the concerns expressed by customers; restore disks. I'm sure Apple appreciates their diligence:

Customers who purchased Open Computing products with Apple's OS X Leopard will receive a disc that will allow them to reinstall their OS should something go drastically wrong or if they feel like getting a new start on their Open Computing. This utility will allow your Open Computer to boot from the native Leopard installation DVD.You can also boot into the service console with the restore disc as the service console lives in the installer from the OS X DVD. It's a very straightforward procedure that will bring more functionality to our Open Computing products.

The big problem with their product is that the OS X EULA clearly says:

"You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so."

Hence, the lawsuit. Still, that clause hasn't stopped Psystar, or others, from trying.

You Can Snooze, and Not Lose (VOIP Calls) with Intel's Remote Wake Technology

Intel has unveiled new technology that will enable PCs in sleep mode to be awakened remotely. Possible uses for this would be to enable people to be able to use VOIP services, such as JAJAH, without needing the PC to be fully powered on at all times.

Other uses would be waking the PC when a request for files or other media from a service such as Orb is received.

The functionality is available in motherboards using either the G45 or G43 chipset; the current list of motherboards supporting this ability is the DG45FC, the DG45ID, the DG43NB, and the DP43TF.

In a statement, Orb said:

The new Intel Remote Wake technology enables Orb users to put their PC into sleep mode, and "wake it up" with the same simple login and password they use to access their Orb account. Because Orb streams content over the internet, it eliminates the need to synch their media ahead of time. With the ability to remotely wake their PC, Orb users can enjoy whatever they want, whenever they want it, even if they did not leave their computer turned on.

Meanwhile, Jajah said:

JAJAH, the world's most innovative global communication company, today unveiled the world's first telephony application to utilize Intel's Remote Wake technology. This energy efficient capability turns the home PC into an 'always available' communications hub for the first time, with Intel Remote Wake technology enabling the home PC to 'wake up' from energy efficient sleep mode to accept phone calls.

While this is all great, and obviously a move toward "greener" technology, don't get confused and think that you can turn it completely off. You can put it in sleep mode, but that's it. It's a heck of a lot more energy-efficient and burdensome on your wallet (considering sky-rocketing energy prices) than a PC that's on all day, but it's still sucking some power.

BlizzCon Plans Ticket Lottery

It's no secret that the BlizzCon 2008 event a) sold out incredibly fast, b) was plagued by sales issues. Blizzard has acknowledged this, and has decided they could squeeze another 3,000 people into the event. Smartly, they are going with a lottery for these tickets.

A statement from reads:

Blizzard Gamers,

On behalf of everyone at Blizzard, I want to apologize for the challenges and frustrations you experienced while trying to purchase BlizzCon tickets on Monday and Tuesday. BlizzCon is about the positive experiences you all have had with Blizzard games. As a result of this week's events, the excitement that many of you felt about the show has turned into dissatisfaction and disappointment.

Due to these circumstances, we've reevaluated our convention hall space and come up with some solutions that will allow us to offer 3,000 more tickets for sale. We know this will not be enough to satisfy the very high level of demand for tickets this year, but we want to ensure that BlizzCon remains a great experience for those of you who are able to attend. To avoid the issues many of you faced this week, we'll be selling these 3,000 via a lottery. We'll post further details once our plans are finalized. Please note that the lottery will only be open to those with an active Blizzard Account as of 9:00 PM PDT on August 12, the time that the “Sold Out” notice was posted.

I, and everyone else at Blizzard, share the frustration and disappointment that many of you have expressed as a result of this process. We'll do what it takes to avoid this type of situation in the future.

Sincerely,

Mike Morhaime

This ought to make ticket sellers at eBay blanch, as people will undoubtedly wait for the lottery to conclude before considering buying any of the extravagantly priced ($500 or more for each ticket) auctions on eBay.

This is actually the sort of system Blizzard should have had in place from the start. Or at least, have it work as sites like Ticketmaster do: reserve the seats immediately, with a "hold time" of 10 minutes or so, and then release them if the buy doesn't occur. And don't make people go all the way through the process, only to find right at the end that there are no tickets available.

More Evidence Points to an iPhone Infineon Chipset Issue

A little clarity from Apple might help here. Speculation on what is really behind the problems iPhone 3G users are seeing with connectivity (dropped calls, slow browsing, no browsing, no signal, etc. etc.) has ranged from AT&T's network (doesn't necessarily explain issues with other carriers, though), poor signal sensitivity, or an issue with the Infineon chipset.

Apple support forums are swamped with posts on the issue. BTW, don't be fooled: two really long threads were closed because, as Apple said:

The threads were too long and some browsers were timing out.

There were hundreds of replies on those original threads.

Business Week has information from "two well-placed sources," both of whom tell BW that the Infineon chipset is indeed the issue, and that Apple plans a software fix. Not sure how you can really fix a hardware issue with software; you can work around it, but the one would think the real fix would be in the chipset.

According to one source:

Part of the role of the Infineon chip is to check whether there's enough 3G bandwidth available in a given area. If 3G isn't available or there isn't enough bandwidth, the iPhone will be shifted to a slower network. One source says Apple programmed the Infineon chip to demand a more powerful 3G signal than the iPhone really requires. So if too many people try to make a call or go on the Internet in a given area, some of the devices will decide there's insufficient power and switch to the slower network --- even if there is enough 3G bandwidth available.

According to this person, the problems are only occurring in areas of high iPhone density. These include the San Francisco Bay area, Boston, and certain overseas locales.

Interesting theory. Except many people are reporting the switch isn't taking place, that rather than switching to EDGE they are left with no signal at all, and that manually switching the phone to EDGE all the time fixes their problems (and no, that's no solution; iPhone 3G owners pay $10 a month more for their data plan, and EDGE also doesn't allow simultaneous data and voice calls).

Apple remains close-mouthed, but Infineon spokesman Guenther Gaugler commented to BW:

"Our 3G chips are, for example, used in Samsung handsets and we are not aware of such problems there."

Assuming the chipset used in the iPhone 3G is identical to that in Samsung devices, this would point to a possible programming. I can attest that Samsung phones seem to have no issues.

At any rate, if a software fix is upcoming, and it's as (relatively) simple as outlined above, where is it? People are getting frustrated and unsurprisingly, many are returning iPhones. Despite this, however, there's still lots of positive buzz around the device.

Personally, I love the phone, and am just going to "wait and see." I do wonder, however, if the fix Apple comes up with is really a workaround, rather than a true fix, and Infineon later modifies its chipset, if we early adopters (suckers?) will once again get the shaft with poorer performance overall than later buyers.

Russia Not Behind Georgian Site Takedowns: Researcher

Earlier this week, I wrote about the conflict between Russia and Georgia, and how Georgia had turned to Google's Blogger service to keep the outside world up-to-date on government updates. While initial speculation was that Russia was behind the DDoS attacks on Georgian sites (which are still down, BTW), at least one researcher is not quite so sure.

Gadi Evron, founder of the Zero Day Emergency Response Team, feels that since the Estonia war, everyone jumps on the cyber-war bandwagon as soon as any hacking occurs with a political bent to it. He says:

Up to the Estonian war, such attacks would be called "hacker enthusiast attacks" or "cyber terrorism" (of the weak sort). Nowadays any attack with a political nature seems to get the "information warfare" tag. When 300 Lithuanian web sites were defaced last month, "cyber war" was the buzzword.

Not every fighting is warfare. While Georgia is obviously under a DDoS attacks and it is political in nature, it doesn't so far seem different than any other online after-math by fans. Political tensions are always followed by online attacks by sympathizers.

Could this somehow be indirect Russian action? Yes, but considering Russia is past playing nice and uses real bombs, they could have attacked more strategic targets or eliminated the infrastructure kinetically.

Kinetically, meaning, rather than attacking the servers with hackers, the Russians might have just as well blown them up.

In fact, Evron went so far as to tell C|Net:

"Although the impact on their Web sites is clear, I believe this may end up being just some kids who got overexcited, with Georgia being ill-prepared to say the least."

Script kiddies? Maybe. Even given that, he felt security community members might have to step in:

DDoS attacks harm the Internet itself rather than just this or that web site, so soon this may require some of us in the Internet security operations community getting involved in mitigating the attacks, if they don't just drop on their own.

Chrysler's In-Vehicle Wi-Fi to Launch Aug. 25th

As I noted earlier, Chrysler was planning to add wi-fi to the list of distractions available in cars, in addition to text messaging / email, reading, putting on makeup, talking on cell phones, and the like. They've now announced that the increased distraction will begin on August 25th, when 2009 Chrysler models will be able to get this option.

Now, don't get me wrong; I'd love to be able to use something like this, but there are a couple of problems:

• Do we need still more distractions for drivers?
• I get carsick; this ain't gonna help (whether or not I am a passenger)
• Do we need more distrations for drivers? (oh, I asked that already)

uConnect Web, as its called, consists of a $499 Mopar car cellular modem / wi-fi router that has to be installed by the dealer as an option. There's a $35 - $50 installation fee, a $35 activation fee and a $29 (insert recurring pain here) monthly subscription fee.

So what you're doing is essentially the same as tethering your laptop to a cell phone (using it as a modem). Then using the router to create a hotspot around the car. Based on that, don't expect cable modem speeds. Of course, the field will extend 100 feet around the car, so I wonder if people will start driving closer to try to poach off a Chrysler's hotspot.

The router is made by Autonet Mobile and is similar to portable units already offered as $10.95-a-day rental add-ons in Avis Rent-a-Car models in major cities.

Obviously, U.S. car manufacturers need every gimmick they can get, but will it take off? Not likely. The one-time charge isn't that big, but $29 a month, when you're already paying for oh, say, your iPhone's data plan and more? Not something most people will opt for.

Which in our already overly connected / distracted society, is good news, as far as I am concerned.

iPhone 3G Not Sensitive Enough to 3G Signals?

I have a question: why are all these researchers and carriers who believe they have pinpointed the iPhone's 3G reception problem in Europe (forcing me to use translation software, too)?

While there's no answer to that question, a Swedish scientist seems to think he has the answer to poor 3G performance on the iPhone 3G: poor signal sensitivity.

Claes Beckman, a professor of microwave technology at the University of Gälve, told Swedish tech site Ny Teknik:

The measurements show that Iphones sensitivity to 3G networks signals - "nominal sensitivity" - is well below the value specified in the 3G standard, which in Europe defined by the organization ETSI.

The result is that it easier than other mobiles to lose contact with the 3G network, and a lower data rates once connected.

Since this value is one of the most important when you check that your mobile phone meets ETSI requirements - a prerequisite for the CE mark - it's impossible to have been wrong in the first ready-made sheets. The error must have occurred in volume production.

It would be great if someone in the U.S. could duplicate his studies and confirm his findings. While, in reality, it wouldn't be great news for iPhone 3G owners, at least there'd be some closure.

To that end, C|Net has asked researchers at Stanford and U.C. Berkeley if they'd be willing to attempt the same sort of test; still more to come, obviously, as this issue becomes hotter and hotter.

Update: It appears Beckman isn't the scientist who ran the experiments. That scientist chose to remain anonymous out of fear for his job because of using his organization's equipment to test the iPhone 3G.

In a way, that might make some give less weight to this assertion, since it's sort of hearsay. But it sure would be nice to have Apple make some sort of official statement.

Google's Search Market Share Tops 70%

... but they're still not a monopoly, at least if you ask the company. On Monday researchers at market research firm Hitwise released their monthly search share report, and their data indicates that Google has now topped 70% in terms of search market share.

Google reached a new milestone and accounted for 70.77 percent of all U.S. searches. Google’s share of searches increased 10% over the same month last year and 2% over the previous month. Yahoo! Search, MSN Search (including Live.com), and Ask followed with 18.65%, 5.36%, and 3.53% share of searches, respectively.

That's Google's tenth consecutive record high in monthly search share.

And if you wonder why Microsoft is / was so keen on snagging Yahoo!'s search technology --- and thus its users --- MSN Search (which includes Live Search) has felt a lot of pain: it accounted for just 5.36% of U.S. Internet search in July. Last year Microsoft had 8.79%. Whoops.

But still, really, Google's not a monopoly, right?

T-Mobile, Vodafone Point to Apple for iPhone's 3G Problems

The finger-pointing has begun. Much has been made over the iPhone's 3G connectivity issues on AT&T's network, and some (including me) have pointed to the fact that AT&T's 3G network performance isn't exactly stellar. Of course, that doesn't mean it's still not an Apple issue.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, made no bones about it: the issue lies with the iPhone 3G itself, either in software or hardware.

In a blog post, T-Mobile pointed to the iPhone as the culprit, not the network (it should be noted that they backed away slightly from their original post, probably under pressure from Apple, stating that they did not mean to imply the issue was with the handset itself.)

Paraphrasing from the Dutch at the site, T-Mobile says that the 3G network coverage of is as good as their competition, and that they suspect that it is a device specific issue. They advise their users to watch carefully for an update.

T-Mobile isn't the only one pointing fingers. On Wednesday, Vodafone Australia also said that the issues were device-specific. They even went so far as to say Apple secrecy, with carriers not getting the handhelds until the day before the launch, was partly to blame.

Additionally, Jessica Forrest, Vodafone Australia's spokeswoman said:

"We are aware of the issues on the iPhone 3G and we're working with Apple to provide a solution."

Best Buy to Sell iPhones

On Tuesday Best Buy announced that it will become the first independent retailer to sell Apple's iPhone, starting on September 7th. This will allow Best Buy to add itself to the list of those being criticized over the iPhone's 3G performance.

Sorry, what I meant to say is that Best Buy will be able to sell Apple's hot-selling iPhone 3G in its 970 full-size stores and 16 smaller Best Buy Mobile stores. The announcement follows closely the announcement that Best Buy has completed upgrades of its Best Buy Mobile departments in each of its full-size stores.

Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile, said:

"We had a lot of work to do, obviously, to get in a position where Apple and AT&T would feel good about Best Buy Mobile carrying it, and that's what we've done in the last 18 months."

There's yet another independent retailer that sells AT&T cell phones: Radio Shack. It's been rumored that Radio Shack would also join the iPhone retailer parade.

Since Best Buy is also the only independent retailer to sell the Sprint Instinct, another hot-selling touch-screen-only phone (but CDMA ... and need I say, not the iPhone?), it will be interesting to see if the iPhone poaches sales off that other phone. I wonder how Sprint feels right about now?

A BSOD of Olympic Proportions

Most of us who have used a Windows PC know what a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is. Well, there could be no more perfect timing for a BSOD than this. Right when Li Ning was rounding the lip of the Bird's Nest during the climax of the torch-lighting ceremony, someone snapped this photo of the familiar BSOD most of us have seen at one time or another.

The original pic was spotted at a Chinese language forum.

But the best pictures were the ones taken by rivercoolcool, who said he was sitting right below the BSOD image. Ironic, isn't it, that he's using a Microsoft Windows Live Spaces blog?

Click the below image to enlarge.


Some have speculated PhotoShopping (an obvious possibility), but quite a few have looked at these images already and seem to think, in particular, that the image was waaaaay too well done to be fakes, with all the shadows and even creasing.

Additionally, someone even reportedly found the image on his DVR. Assuming we now believe it to be true, the only remaining question is: genuine or pirated version of Windows?

33,000 in Line for the Chevrolet Volt?

I'm still unconvinced about the Chevrolet Volt, GM's plug-in hybrid which is scheduled to hit the road, or at least complete development, by the end of 2010. Besides the fact that it's a GM car (and I've had little luck with U.S. autos), the current estimated price of the darn thing is going to be $40,000 and that doesn't even fit into the desired price range of its biggest fans (more on that later).

But while normally a car maker keeps an unreleased vehicle under wraps during development, you can sense the pressure GM feels to make the Volt work, via the amount of publicity so far.

In fact, on Tuesday, one of the biggest fans of the Volt, Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist unveiled a list of prospective Volt buyers he has been assembling for over a year through his Web site GM-Volt.com.

As of this writing, his "waiting list" numbers 33,510 potential buyers, with the largest number from California (1065) and then Texas (583). Bad news for GM: the average amount buyers are willing to spend on the Volt: $31,286.83. That $40K is going to be a tough sell.

GM still has a number of hurdles to overcome, such as development of the Li-ion battery pack that will power the vehicle. They're certainly not slacking, though, based on this blurb on their site by Tony Posawatz, Vehicle Line Director – E-Flex Systems and the Chevy Volt, General Motors Corp.

"We have devoted significant resources to this project: Over 200 engineers and 50 designers are working on the Volt alone, and another 400 are working on related subsystems and electric components. That's how important we think this is, and that’s how much stock we place in the future of extended-range electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt."

iPhone's 3G Problems Possibly a Chipset Issue: Analyst

I earlier discussed the pain iPhone 3G users are feeling with regards to the 3G network and connectivity. Since then the issue hasn't faded, and the 2.0.1 software update did nothing to fix the issue.

In fact, more and more media attention has focused itself on the issue.

On Tuesday, Richard Windsor, an analyst with Nomura Securities chimed in. In a research note, he said:

"We believe that these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier."

Someone hasn't been reading iSuppli's teardowns if he isn't 100% certain Infineon is the supplier. At any rate, if it's a chipset problem, it may be difficult to fix via a firmware update.

Of course, Windsor is the same analyst who last year speculated that the original iPhone's screen would begin deteriorating over time, after three to six months.

On the other hand, it's not like I haven't seen issues like this before with other devices, including pre-released devices (I work in the mobile industry). I can't go into details, but I've seen issues like this fixed with firmware updates. I will, however, also attest to the fact that the AT&T 3G network is spotty at best.

Even on other devices I've seen switching back and forth between 3G and EDGE, so this behavior doesn't surprise me. If the chipset is the issue, based on past history, I'd expect Apple to do right by their customers. At least, as an iPhone 3G owner who has noticed no signal at all while a Palm Treo 750 a few seats over was doing just fine, I hope so.

Gmail Outage Shows "The Cloud" Still Has a Slightly Tarnished Lining

Don't get me wrong, the idea of "cloud computing" is great. It's just that you're depending on the service, and access to it via the Internet, to be available, 24x7. Based on the outages of late, the current state of the technology seems to point to having to have a backup plan, just in case.

And that's ironic, since one of the uses of the cloud is automated backups of your data.

Yesterday's Gmail outage is just the latest in a series of incidents that don't inspire confidence. In their apology, Google said:

We feel your pain, and we're sorry

Many of you had trouble accessing Gmail for a couple of hours this afternoon, and we're really sorry. The issue was caused by a temporary outage in our contacts system that was preventing Gmail from loading properly. Everything should be back to normal by the time you read this.

We heard loud and clear today how much people care about their Gmail accounts. We followed all the emails to our support team and user group, we fielded phone calls from Google Apps customers and friends, and we saw the many Twitter posts. (We also heard from plenty of Googlers, who use Gmail for company email.) We never take for granted the commitment we've made to running an email service that you can count on.

Other issues of late:

• Google Apps' downtime last week.
• Nick Saber's highly publicized downtime (and he was a paying user).
• MobileMe's fiascoes (MobileMe email went down again yesterday, in fact, after being called stable)
• Amazon S3's outages (including another in July)

As I said, it's not that I don't love the cloud. In fact, some of the data I access daily exists there, in the form of Google Docs spreadsheets. But this latest stumble does show that if companies as large as Amazon.com and Google can't keep their cloud services up and running, then they'd darn well better add some sort of local redundancy that users can utilize (e.g., some sort of desktop synching).

And one thing people frequently forget: it's not just the service provider you have to worry about. Just last week Comcast had an outage in my area. Sure, I could hop offer to the local coffee shop for some free wi-fi (assuming they were on AT&T DSL and not Comcast), but that's just another weak link in the chain.

Much as I hate to admit it, there's no way I'd trust putting everything in the cloud, not just yet.

BlizzCon So Popular the Blizzard Store Crashes

With the announcement of Diablo III and the (we hope) near-release of Starcraft 2, BlizzCon, scheduled for Octoboer 11th - 12th at the Anaheim Convention Center, is one hot ticket, so hot that the store couldn't handle it.

After all, the Goody Bag alone would make gamers salivate, with a 16" inflatable divine shield ball in 1/2 of the bags, and a 48” inflatable Frostmourne, Arthas’ runeblade, in the other 1/2. And there will be sample products from Blizzard's licensed partners and unique Blizzard-themed trinkets, such as Diablo health and mana stress balls, pandaren brewmaster bottle openers, zerg creep, and more.

Blizzard has repeatedly update this forum post, and although for a short time --- 5:40 PM - 6:50 PM --- they said the store was up, it came down again. According to their initial post, no tickets had been sold (that's how quickly the store crashed), but it's unknown if that's still the case.

Their current update:

Update: 7:40 PM PDT- Maintenance continues on The Blizzard Store as we work to resolve the issues affecting the site. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.

And later:

Update: 9:40 PM PDT - We have appreciated everyone’s patience as we've worked to address issues with the BlizzCon ticket sales today. To avoid having people stay up into the early hours attempting to make ticket purchases, we will take ticket sales down and continue implementing optimizations through tonight and tomorrow morning.

There are still plenty of tickets available, so if you weren't able to purchase tickets today, please check back tomorrow. We'll continue to provide updates on the World of Warcraft forums here.

Will Guys Pick the "Gadget or the Girl?"

This actually sounds like something designed for the CW show Beauty and the Geek." In this new Playboy TV series, Gadget or the Girl, a guy will be forced to choose between a hot weekend getaway with the girl of his choice, or a mystery gadget.

The episode starts with the guy forced to choose immediately between three women, ditching one. The remaining three go on a date to get to know each other, and eventually he narrows his choice down to one woman. But then he has to decide between a gadget and the girl, with the possibly high-tech toys ranging from a 60" plasma TV to an arcade game machine.

In what sounds like Let's Make a Deal, though, the guy doesn't know what the gadget is until he makes his pick. And, to give the girl more incentive, if he picks her, she gets her own (previously undisclosed) gadget.

The show will be hosted by 25-year-old Iliza Shlesinger, who just won the 6th season of NBC's Last Comic Standing (above). Gadget or the Girl debuts Monday, September 1st at 7:30pm E.T.

3 Million iPhone 3Gs Sold in First Month: Analyst

As I previously noted, Apple sold one million iPhone 3Gs in the first weekend, and after that ... we didn't really have a clue. However, analyst Michael Cote of the Cote Collaborative told Fortune that while comparatively speaking, sales slowed considerably, they were still remarkable, with the 3G version of Apple's iPhone hitting 3 million in sales in the first month.

It took 74 days for the original iPhone to hit the one million mark.

While quite honestly, I'd never heard of the Cote Collaborative, and the only site I could find by Googleing for it was a parked site, according to Fortune Coteis a former T-Mobile executive whose wireless industry predictions have been extremely accurate in the past.

Cote said:

"They are seeing unprecedented demand. The demand is so strong it may impact or delay the new countries coming on."

Yes, that's a possibility according to Cote. The demand in current countries is so high that countries with upcoming launches may face delays.

The new iPhone is currently selling in 22 countries, with a target of 70 by year's end. The original iPhone was sold in four countries.

Caught in a Cyber-War, Georgia Turns to Google's Blogger

Hopefully you're not so into the Olympics that you haven't taken note of the clash between Russia and Georgia. As of the time of this writing, Georgia claims that by capturing a strategic city, Russia has now cut the country in half. But they also claim Russia is conducting a cyber-war, so how is Georgia getting the news out? Enter Google's Blogger service.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has created a Blogger site for updates. Going to Georgia's official government site gets you nothing but a timeout message. The official website of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was up for a while, but it's down again as well.

Blogger has no such issues, and Georgia is using it to get the word out.

One of the posts addresses the outage, and says:

A cyber warfare campaign by Russia is seriously disrupting many Georgian websites, including that of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If you cannnot access official Georgian government websites, please go to the following sites for the latest official Government of Georgia news.

• http://georgiamfa.blogspot.com/ (this site)
  

• The website of the President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński: www.president.pl (go to the link: "information about the latest developments in Georgia.")

According to Jart Armin, a researcher who runs a website which tracks the Russian Business Network (RBN), a cybercrime organization with close links to the Russian mafia and government, has released data claiming to show that visits to Georgian sites had been re-routed through servers in Russia and Turkey, where the traffic was blocked. Armin said the servers:

"are well known to be under the control of RBN and influenced by the Russian Government."