Engadget Podcast 156 - 07.24.2009
By Trent Wolbe 
posted Jul 24th 2009 2:48PM
posted Jul 24th 2009 2:48PM
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller
Special guest: Ross Rubin
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: OxygenStar - In The Garage
Hear the podcast
00:01:35 - HTC Hero review
00:30:50 - Plastic Logic e-book reader will use AT&T for its 3G needs
00:35:30 - Barnes & Noble partners with Plastic Logic, becomes "exclusive eBookstore provider" for its e-reader
00:53:30 - Apple bucks recession, records best non-holiday quarter in company history
01:01:05 - Microsoft sees first annual sales decline in its history for fiscal 2009
01:10:25 - Wii Sports Resort impressions (and video!): MotionPlus killer app, or killer tech demo?
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Contact the podcast
1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.
Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Quality isn't great this week guys when you cut to Ross Rubin, over wise very entertaining as usual.
Please take Paul Miller off. Nilay is very smart, and Josh is very keen. Paul is a very poor speaker.
I love Paul!
Shame on you, Besna.
Keep up the good work, Miller, I'm counting on you. We all are...
I disagree with Basna.
Paul may not be the most articulated speaker, but I still enjoy hearing him talk on the podcast. The three guys have great chemistry on the air.
What? Paul rocks.
Nilay on the other should speak up/higher. There have been frequent occasions in which I was listening to the podcast through my computer speakers and Nilay has a tendecy to decrease his speaking volume which doesn't help the fact his voice is low to begin with.
Still good podcasts though :)
I like Paul, even though his "umm" ratio is indeed higher than for the other guys. I guess I identify with him more than with Josh and Nilay.
Love the Podcasts, lots to think about and great insight
91% of sales of computers sold above $1000 goes to Apple. Wow. That is some serious domination.
Josh, you should have talked to Chris Zeigler, he would have told you that s60 has had flash in its browser for years, and it slows it down quite a bit.
I wish Joshua would stop interupting and talking over everyone else. He's well informed and a good speaker, but I enjoy listening to everyone on the podcasts and like to hear all points of view-- not just Joshua repeating his point over and over. Please give other people a chance to completely make their points.
Otherwisw, I love these podcasts. Keep up the good work everyone!
If the 80s are back will they put it back on the kindle
Just a comment regarding shutting down applications on Android.
You can turn off applications on a stock Android phone without any other applications. But it is hidden well. Go to Settings -> Applications > Manage applications. Choose the application you want to turn off and under "Controls" there should be a button "Force stop".
It's clearly not as easy to get to as it should though. And the Android OS should really be tweaked to turn off applications if the CPU is over loaded. (Or for that matter, they could just not run applications the user has not used for some time or turn down priority of applications in the background.)
All this talk about halting running apps seems odd to me. I compulsively close my apps by using the back button until I'm back to the home screen (instead of using the home button); that seems to close every app but the browser.
I just wanted to point out that there is a very good chance that the "marketing data" of Apple controller 90% of the "systems over $1000" revenue is flawed. The reason? Anyone who's planning on a PC purchase over $1000 will more than likely be building a custom unit. PC maker's cannot adapt quickly enough on the high end to offer what someone willing to spend the extra money wants in their system. Thus PC makers lose out on the high end because their sales are being cannibalized by custom builds. Were custom shops and/or component purchases factored into this? Or just "Apple sold x amount of dollers of units over $1000, HP and Dell sold y."
Maybe my point of view is skewed, but I don't believe that my reasoning is flawed. Spending $1500 on something you only sort of like, or spending $1500 and getting exactly the components you want to make a powerful system isn't much of a choice. People want value for their money, even on the high end. They want to know that they are getting value for their money, be it perceived or actual. And on the PC side, a custom built unit gives you that flexibility and assurance that you have exactly what you wanted/paid for.
Josh, can you please get it over with and use a small netbook? As compared to any phone, it gives you an awesome physical keyboard, great browser experience including Flash and very good battery life (with replaceable battery if you need it.)
nice use of the 8-bit weezer!!!!
Best intro evar! EPIC!
Great podcast, as usual. Paul is a great speaker, as usual.
the plastic logic reader can have multiple documents/books open at the same time in tabs. check the d7 video etc for the UI. all of the 3g connections for digital media download need to be ONE WAY. I download it, thats its.
Absolutely love the intro! Just awesome.