Recent Comments:
Open source license ruled enforceable, hippies rejoice {Engadget}
Aug 18th 2008 1:42PM The problem I have with EULAs is that they tend to be getting into the realm of unlawful terms. For example, I have seen EULAs with "you agree not to reverse engineer this software" and such.
I have every right to reverse engineer your software. For example, I may want to reverse engineer iTunes or Windows Media Player in order to create software to interoperate with it. I am not trying to circumvent either of the two's copyright protection, I just want to create a 'plugin' of some sort that is not able to created without reverse engineering. That is legal and I have the right to do so. You are saying because some shrink wrap agreement says that I am no longer entitled to? I think not.
EULAs are completely stupid because not only are they easy to bypass (not agreeing, then extracting the software), but also because they have no proof that I agreed. What if I were to disassemble the code, swap the functionality of the Yes and No buttons and then install? They have no proof that I didn't do that. I 'clicked' No, but it still installed. How does that rule in court? Maybe some of you are seeing my point now. They are very weak 'agreements' legally.
Samsung Omnia review {Engadget Mobile}
Aug 18th 2008 1:29PM Is it me or does the display look very.. 'pixely'? Yes I know the pictures are zoomed quite a lot, I'm saying if the iPhone or another large display phone were to be viewed in the same manner, would it look that jagged?
Pretty much what I am saying is it looks like those icons are the 'Windows XP' style and the iPhone (and I am sure other phones too) have the 'Windows Vista' style (transparency layer) icons that look less jagged and nicer.
I just reference the iPhone cause that's what I personally have and it looks way, way better in terms of images/icons/screen resolution(dpi).
USB indoor / outdoor thermometer: for when walking outside is just too hard {Engadget}
Aug 15th 2008 1:53PM It kind of saddens me how some people really can't think outside the box, especially on a more tech-savvy crowd (I'd hope) such as Engadget readers.
At first glance it would seem very mundane perhaps. A 'mere' thermometer. But it's a sensor, which data could be important to some. I can see this being applied to numerous applications in the business and commercial world as well as the homebrew side. There are many more uses for a thermometer than "I wonder what temperature it is outside so I can dress appropriately."
The only issue I have is that it is not wireless. If it were wireless, that would be really, REALLY cool.
Apple, RIM, Palm sued over vague GSM patents {Engadget}
Aug 6th 2008 4:38PM "...WiAV is Mindspeed's exclusive licensee for eight of the patents, not the outright owner, so it has to ask the court to join Mindspeed as a plaintiff as well..."
I can imagine it now... 'Hey, Mindspeed, you wanna like.. join in on this multimillion dollar lawsuit against the big corporations for about say.. eight patents you own?'
'Nah man, I'm cool.'
Riiiiiiiiiight. Gonna be really hard to convince them to join in.
Team overclocks Core 2 Quad to 5.1GHz, claims world record -- too bad it's not {Engadget}
Jul 31st 2008 5:39PM They infuse the electrons running through the busses with NOS and let them drift!
Poll: How's your iPhone 3G reception? {Engadget}
Jul 17th 2008 2:33PM My reception for 3G is exceptional and actually I get it better in places that before I would have trouble getting signal at all (at work, girlfriend's house, and a friend's house).
The 3G network speeds seem to be far better in speed and reliability than EDGE.
I'm in the Charlotte, NC area, near the city.
iTunes activation servers go down, iPhone 3G customers being sent home unactivated, first-gen iPhone customers stuck with dead iPhones {Engadget}
Jul 11th 2008 1:37PM Sigh..sometimes it's very difficult to not want to reply to so many of the ignorant comments on here.
Anyhow, I'll document my experience. I live in the university area in Charlotte, NC. There seems to be only two stores in the area that would carry the iPhone, the AT&T store near me and the Apple store in Southpark Mall.
I decided to go to the closer one, the AT&T store thinking that the line would be small to non-existent. Wrong. I arrived about quarter till 8 AM and there was a considerable line snaking the building consisting of about 80-100 people.
I noticed that many people were there just for support of another in line, not necessarily every single person was going to buy a phone -- a relief to say the least. Well the line moved slower than molasses and I swear people would go in but never come out. Anyhow, the stock was getting short and things were looking grim as I arrived near the pearly white gates. Fortunately, our hero, the FedEx man showed up with a dolly full of goodies and everyone gracefully moved aside so he could enter. More iPhones, what a second wind for the despondent crowd!
11 AM soon approached and I was just a few people away from the holy grail! Unfortunately, it just hit me... west coast would be signing on now to the iTunes activation server as well, definitely bogging it down and ultimately killing it. I made my way into the store to find that only the 8GB models were left... which I was a little disappointed to find out after thinking about the 16 GB model but then quickly realizing a 32 GB model would soon be on the way so I could just sell and upgrade in the [near] future.
Great, I'm one of the last few iPhones left in the store, I've won, right? Well, kind of.. now it's just a battle with the iTunes activation service that I've been sent home to fight. It is annoying having a dead first-gen phone next to me but I am enjoying the view of two iPhones on my bed.
Anyhow, while this is a small rough spot, it was fun in its own way, rewarding, and soon to pass. After that I'll have a shiny new, working iPhone 3G and this will all seem insignificant.
Time to pass time by messing around with the App Store on my first-gen iPhone running 2.0 while I wait for activation.
US iPhone 3G gets unboxed and handled {Engadget}
Jul 8th 2008 8:24PM The irony amused me, a conclusion of "...I know you are much more mature than that..." following the opening of "...3G great if you are a total loser with no social life and has to have blazing speeds for web browsing and mms..."
Anyhow, on to debating your points. First of all, the speeds between EDGE and 3G are very different. 3G is 2 Mbit/s for stationary/slow moving and 348 Kbit/s for fast moving (vehicle). EDGE on the other hand has a theoretical maximum of 474 Kbit/s but averages 237 Kbit/s on a good day. That's not even getting into the differences in protocol, where 3G is far superior in itself for network load and efficiency.
Considering that WiFi is not ubiquitous in every location and EDGE is definitely not great for streaming video or soon to be Flash content. I don't see why it's unreasonable to say most people can and will find a use for the faster speeds, especially when the App Store launches. There are already applications to stream XM/Sirius radio using your iPhone, 3G will definitely assist in streaming that instead of EDGE's waning speeds AND those applications will be released for FREE on the App Store once it comes out.
Yes, the iPhone does lack some features that the [insert phone here] has. They are coming and its even closer to coming to fruition with the soon to be App Store. There are rumors of A2DP coming for firmware 2.0, as it would only be a software update and not a hardware update anyhow.
The phone itself is built rather tough, even as it seems to be fragile. My screen has but maybe one or two scratches, none which are visible when the screen is lit. It has about one dent from me dropping it at chest height and it hitting the edge of a brick bench on campus. The dent is very small and on the top corner near the button. The metallic back is still in perfect condition. I don't even baby the phone, like I've said I've dropped it, had it fall from a table a few times, and had it in the same pocket with my keys sometimes by accident (actually quite a bit).
The plastic ought to help in reception if anything and the new speaker design seems a bit better for clarity and volume (no more pins necessary). As for the smudges, glass cleaner works wonders.
Overpriced GPS? How is 199/299$ overpriced for GPS?
Honestly, what everyone who has beef with the iPhone is forgetting is that the 3rd party apps and SDK are going to rock and make a ton of people realize the potential of the iPhone. I'm waiting, been waiting.
You can say whatever you want about my phone has this and my phone has that, windows mobile this and windows mobile that, but the price tag on this phone is definitely acceptable for what it is. Look at any other phones that are in the similar range and they are of similar price with contract and without.
The Bill Day giveaway (part 4) - Windows Vista Ultimate {Engadget}
Jun 28th 2008 8:45AM MSCDEX.
The Bill Day giveaway (part 1) - Toshiba Gigabeat T400 {Engadget}
Jun 27th 2008 4:44PM Notepad, that and calculator are probably the best programs ever. Solitare is good too.
