OpenPhones
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Talkcast reminder: Open phones and news of the week, 10pm ET
Last week, both Mikes (Rose & Schramm) joined Steve, Kelly and the gang as they talked Mother's Day and Macdom (with a special visit from The Mac Mommy herself). You can download the show from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes. I've been sidelined the last couple of weeks thanks to some stormy weather and an ear infection, but I'm back tonight and will be filling in for regular host, Michael Rose. Hopefully some other TUAW comrades will join me and we'll talk news of the week, take your calls and discuss all things Mac and iPhone. Join us live at 10pm ET using Talkshoe or calling in directly. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then! Recording support for the talkcast is provided by Call Recorder from ecamm networks.
Talkcast reminder: Open phones/Ask TUAW, 10pm ET tonight
Last week's show got rolling a little late, but we did have the opportunity to introduce you all to our two newest team members and discuss the billion-app threshold. You can download the show from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes.We're back live tonight, and since the big story of the week (Verizon's dance of the seven veils with iPhone) is more speculation than specification, we're throwing open the phone lines to all of you. Got Mac or iPhone questions? Something you have to get off your chest? Christina & I, plus some possible special guests, will try to tackle your issues for you. One topic we'd like to hear about, if there are iPhone devs who can make it for the show: the notable level of frustration with slow payment from iPhone app sales. Tell us your story.To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then! Recording support for the talkcast is provided by Call Recorder from ecamm networks.
Professor singles out mobile carriers for stifling cellphone innovation
Do you believe that mobile carriers are to controlling in the actual design (hardware and software) of cellular handsets these days? If so, you'll probably love an opinion paper by Columbia law professor Timothy Wu. Wu suggests that cellphone design and innovation is being inhibited by cellular service providers. We all know why this happens, of course -- the carriers love the walled garden policy of controlling how and why subscribers use their handsets. Usually, the design of a carrier-branded handset is geared to goose subscribers into more services and more add-ons. But, the GSM world knows all to well that "free and open" handsets don't have these annoyances at all, much to the chagrin of the carriers (like AT&T and T-Mobile USA). Are the policies of carriers hurting consumers? Wu makes his case by bringing up features that are blocked by many carriers which come native with many handsets before being disabled by carriers. Features like WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, advanced SMS, browsers and photo and sound file transfer capabilities. The biggie that caught our eyes? Real-time call timers. You go, Mr. Wu -- stick it to the man.
