Everything’s coming up Android!

You’d have to admit that the introduction of a new OS like Android is exciting. The fact that it’s an open system, welcoming developers to  add to it’s functionality, with seemingly no limitations, says the sky’s the limit. So eventually you would think this will be a boon both to industry and personal users. Let’s face it, it’s not going to be a Blackberry,out of the box, and there are not going to be a range of great applications available for a while till the platform proves itself, and some of the more mainstream developers who already have experience with cross platform programming, decide to wade in to the mix.

  
There are a few, I don’t know how many,[I’m sure I know at least one person that’s got one and can’t say] people who already are Hands on with the G1. A forum member over at Android Community, has done what may be the first public review of the G1. Again, I’m sure this person will get their wrist slapped for this.
The real news though is that other manufacturers are going to pick up the OS and build appropriate devices. Even rumours that the Touch HD, [which isn’t coming to  the US any time soon, WinMo flavoured] will somehow appear in an Android version, I’d like to see that. Anyway, twelve days to go so back to normal viewing…

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Tossing up Idea’s!

I’m in a muddle, EEE PC 1000H, Touch Dual, or HTC Touch Cruise. All around the same price, Touch Cruise = WM 6.1, Touch Dual = WM 6, and I can get a display EEE PC 1000H for AU$ 598. Yeah I’d prefer a Diamond, or the Touch Pro HD, but considering my location, and the availability of devices not under contract, my choices are as above. I’m leaning towards the Eeepie, but I’m enamoured with the touch dual. Who wants’  to let me know which of these three devices will get me more bang for my buck?

Thanks to Jack for the Cruise News!!!

Let me know what you think in the comments, I’m about ready to pull the trigger

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Wal*Mart shutting down DRM server - October 9th

Alright, look - I’m not going to waste my time or yours debating whether legally buying music or illegally downloading music is right or wrong. Chances are my opinions are going to be totally different from yours and that’s just fine. However, my big issue is not the cost of music - my issue is the ridiculous crap that LEGAL downloaders are continually put through. Let’s be perfectly clear on this, people with DRM’d tracks are SCREWED when the DRM auth servers shut down like Wal-Mart is about to do. LEGALLY purchased music will NOT WORK after October 9th. That my friends is complete and utter BS. I personally am SICK AND TIRED of the people who DO THE RIGHT THING, getting screwed.

We hope you are enjoying the increased music quality/bitrate and the improved usability of Walmart’s MP3 music downloads. We began offering MP3s in August 2007 and have offered only DRM (digital rights management) -free MP3s since February 2008. As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.

Click the link below for the full text of the Wal*Mart screw you email and get some instructions for jumping through the legal hoops

via BoingBoing

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Eenie Meanie Minie Mo, Which OS Is Your Go?

How much choice do you want? On the one hand, I think “different strokes for different folks”, and we all like a choice, something to emphasise our individuality. We’ve done the whole I’m a Mac/PC thing, but Brandon mentioned that he’s also a Penguin.

What does that mean exactly, the big L, Linux based systems. Now a lot of the incredibly popular NetBooks, that are emerging are offering, a Linux, alternative, operating system. We’ve come a long way recently, from the traditional M$/Mac war, that a lot of us would relate to.

Think about the OS’s out there though, that serve our truly mobile lifestyle. start with Symbian/UIQ based systems, move to WinMo, add Mac OSX and now “Robby the Robot”(android), Oh and BlackBerry, and Palm, and that’s only the mobile phone extension of Mobile OS’s. From there we could go straight up to NetBooks, but there are categories of devices in that gap that we need to think about.

Mids and the UMPC.

One of the things that the need for mobility has done, is make developers focus on a less technically focused community, and start to make UI’s for the every day user, so this version of Ubuntu, for mobile, hopefully goes there!

The interface has been changed to cater for plenty finger use, where buttons are slightly larger while applications are launched in full screen glory at 1,024 x 600 resolution. Firefox has been taken out though, replaced by a default browser known as "Midbrowser" - it will be interesting to see how the user experience turns out, will it be similar to that of the iPhone?

 

Good info from Ubergizmo, and Tech Digest.

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Governator kills texting while driving in Cali

Well finally someone realized that when you’re texting and driving you’re pretty much not looking at the road you’re driving on or the car in front of you. You might as well be drunk.

Insurers, bicyclists and cellphone companies backed the measure that Schwarzenegger signed Wednesday, as they did the ban on holding a cellphone while driving, which took effect July 1. The earlier law allows drivers to use cellphones only with hands-free devices such as headsets; another law prohibits drivers younger than 18 from using any kind of phone or texting device while behind the wheel.

“When somebody’s distracted,” said state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), who wrote the new law, SB 28, and the earlier laws, “it puts not just the driver at risk but everybody else in the car and everybody else on the highway.”

So - if you were pissed off about the whole no talking without a hands free device in California, plan on having your day entirely ruined come January 1, 2009. Personally I wish this and the hands-free law was a federal mandate. Too many people in this country can’t drive worth a damn anyway … let alone when they think they can drive and talk/text at the same time. Truth hurts folks - I don’t care how well you think you can drive and text at the same time, you can’t. The multiple accidents per week I have to avoid because of people who try is proof of that fact.

via LA Times

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I wouldn’t want to spread ignorance - WinMo Appstore

So much for love thy neighbor. Look - I’m not one to get involved in petty bickering between sites and all that crap. Normally, I just go about my day, ignore the blah, blah, blah and do what I do. But I wanted to touch on something really quick. Elitism and overall assholishness.

Look, reality is almost none of us end up getting paid for this stuff. Sure some of us get “freebies” from vendors and developers - but even that comes with a cost because we end up spending a lot of time using the item, putting our thoughts together about the item and then putting virtual pen to paper for a review. I easily spend a few hours of my personal time per week just making posts and putting things together for reviews and I can guarantee others put a lot more time into it than I do, yet still don’t get a penny for their troubles.

So - please if you see something missing in a review or a post, feel free to let us know - but do so with it mind that:

So, what brought about this post? Well, so far as I can tell - nothing aimed specifically at us. I mean we’ve posted about the iPhone App Store, and we’ve posted about the lack of one for WinMo. But maybe we haven’t posted enough about how there are MULTIPLE solutions for buying applications and websites for Windows Mobile software. I mean you’ve got Handango InHand, PocketGear OTA SMS, and others. So while you may not have one specific solution, with all the bling of the iTunes App Store - you do have alternatives for WinMo and some of them have been around for quite some time.

Anyway as I mentioned, please if you see something that maybe we missed feel free to let us know in the comments and we’ll fix it. But at the same time, keep those points above in mind. We aren’t trying to spread ignorance… we’re just putting our thoughts on all things mobile out on the ‘net. I’m not going to post a link to what prompted this little mini rant because I personally respect the website and its owner, but suffice it to say I really want to:

And I Quote:

If you see more technology news sites or mobile phone reviewers spreading ignorance regarding Windows Mobile’s lack of an application store, feel free to send them here for a reality check

I don’t think that line was particularly necessary … and if it was the first such venom from this individual I’d have ignored it, however statements like this have become all too common in the mobile community and they need to stop. We’re here to help people make informed decisions and have some fun doing it. If your goals are anything different - maybe this isn’t the thing for you.

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