It seems at the beginning of every year, almost like clockwork, someone has to declare the next year to be “the year of the Linux desktop.” We haven’t yet reached the point, and it is doubtful if we’ll ever reach that point. There are always new reasons for some people to jump ship to Linux, and this time we have a pretty big one.
For years now Linux has been able to support nearly every iPod, so users wouldn’t have to switch from the dominant music player. However, until now there was no support for the iPhone and iPod touch. There was no easy way to sync the music on an iPhone OS device with an Ubuntu computer. It looks like the new version of Ubuntu, Lucid Lynx, will support syncing with said devices through the Rythmbox media player. Users will also be able to access the files on their iPhones and iPod touches via the Nautilus file manager, so they can have full access to the devices.
The idea of being able to sync media to an iPhone/iPod touch from a Linux computer is very tempting. Paired with the apparent Ubuntu One Music Store, Rythmbox on Lucid Lynx could possibly replace iTunes for users (save, of course, for the apps which will have to bought on the devices themselves). It is doubtful that anyone who relies heavily on an iPhone or iPod touch would want to use Ubuntu as a main desktop client, but some might want to. Although, if using Ubuntu on the desktop, perhaps it would make more sense to use Android devices rather than the rather tightly regulated iPhone OS devices.
It was originally thought that some Windows Mobile phones would be able to upgrade to the new Windows Phone 7 Series, provided that they met the hardware benchmarks required by Microsoft. But when asked for specifics about that upgrade plan, Microsoft executive Natasha Kwan said that Windows Mobile devices - including the heralded HTC HD2 - will not be upgraded to Windows Phone 7. Despite the HD2 meeting the processor and display requirements to run 7 series, Kwan says it “doesn’t qualify because it doesn’t have the three buttons.”
All Windows Phone 7 Series devices are required to have three buttons: Home, Back, and Search. The HD2 lacks the dedicated search button, making it ineligible to get the upgrade. Further complicating matters is Microsoft Australia executive Tony Wilkinson’s suggestion that “there are some hardware components that the HD doesn’t have.”
An official upgrade path seems dead in the water, but I’d wager that enterprising folks at XDA and other sites will find a way to repurpose a hardware button and release custom ROM’s that put Windows Phone 7 on Windows Mobile devices.
FROM GAMERTELL - A PlayStation Network outage is affecting PS3 owners around the world. Only PS3 slim models are immune to a massive error that is preventing consoles from connecting to the internet, playing certain games and functioning normally. MORE »
You may soon find e-readers priced below $150 in stores later this year, or so Freescale says. Amazon and Sony both use Freescale’s chips in their e-readers. The current technology requires several chips to control the e-ink display, which bumps up the cost and reduces performance but that will soon change when Freescale begins to rollout their new single-chip technology that is much cheaper and allows faster page turns (less than half a second). Freescale has also eliminated features that are not used in e-readers from the chip. That brings down the cost by about $30. Freescale will be offering these new chips as samples to their customers like Amazon and Sony soon. It usually takes about six months from sampling a chip to a finished product going on sale, said Glen Burchers, a marketing director. If e-readers really reach the price point of $150 and gets improved performance, then consumers wouldn’t have to contemplate between having a tablet, or an e-reader.
FROM APPLETELL - In the last 30 days, the first question people have asked is “Are you going to get an iPad?” If the answer is yes, the second question is almost always “Are you going to get the 3G?” The choice is tough. MORE »
Today, I had the privilege to appear on Tech Vi’s Bottom Line with host (and former Gadgetell Editor) Iyaz Akhtar. We discussed the latest moves by Microsoft, specifically the lack of upgrades of 6.5 devices to Windows Phone 7 Series. The move could hinder sales of current breed Windows Mobile devices until Windows Phone 7 arrives.
eBay doesn’t always live up to the “if it’s too good to be true” mantra as users around the world use the site to find gadgets way off retail. More often then not (*statistically dubious), it works out for the buyers and seller. But what about knock offs?
Case in point: check out this iPod controlling ski jacket. Spyder is a brand of expensive ski clothing and eBay is chock full of “Spyder gear”. Take http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260547949386&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1182. it appears to the be the $3000+ jacket Engadget wrote about a while back. So the $3k jacket plus pants sold for $160. Obviously a fake, right?
Your Asian connection
Check here: www.dhgate.com. In fact, look here. This eBay-like service puts users in touch with factories in Asia for all kinds of products. From sporting goods, to gadgetry to software to building supplies, you can find it here and all the sellers look to have decent ratings and fast shipping. Sounds like a deal?
Well, not so fast. Even though most users have ratings, it appears that these ratings are manipulated by the site - at least according to users I spoke with. That’s right, fake ratings. It seems the site will go and change your negative review/rating to a positive as it sees fit, according to my sources.
I found a seller who bought from the site intending to resell the goods. They agreed to answer some of my questions.
Here is my Q&A:
Gadgetell: It looks like you’ve had some issues with getting your order/getting your money back. What can you share? Do you resell the products? Seller: I did buy to re-sell on eBay (suspended for one month) and also on Amazon UK sites but I have since been reinstated Gadgetell: Have you left any negative feedback and if so, was it altered? Like so many other people I have left negative feedback only to find that it has been changed at a later time to positive. Gadgetell: Can you recommend buying from DHGate? I would advise against making any purchases whatsoever from DH Gate, almost everything sold on their site is counterfeit – and not even of good quality. They act as an Escrow agent in transactions between the seller/buyer but always come down firmly on the side of the seller whenever there is a dispute of any kind. I have provided written and photographic evidence at their request but it is still not enough to get a full refund. They are in business to line their own pockets and those of their sellers. They are thieves, no doubt but what I find incredibly galling is that their site is incredibly similar to that of eBay – is there some connection..? In addition, PayPal allows a buyer to make purchases from the DH Gate site and in doing so, in my opinion, are assisting with the importation of counterfeit goods. They are complicit in illegal activity.
How to tell them apart
Another source gave me some good tips on how to avoid ending up with a knock off. Search on the item description, often descriptions are lifted right off a site like dhgate (you bet there are more than one site like them). Look at the images, if something looks “off”, something probably is. Check the manufacturers site, do they offer anything like that? Inspect logos. Is it close?
Today, HP unveiled their latest super-thin multitouch enabled convertible tablet. The polarizing tablet form factor (people seem to love it or hate it) has been a mainstay in the HP line with limited success. HP looks to tilt this product to the medical and sales arenas. The convertible tablet behaves both like a traditional laptop or swing the screen around and use the unit as a tablet.
The new 2740p tablet is HP’s first multitouch unit. This means users can pinch, double tap and swipe, just like iPhone users on the screen. Fingers can be used as an input device or a stylus pen. The screen measures 12.1” diagonally.
The 2740p isn’t just a pretty face, though its aluminum case it is that, it also meets the military spec for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude and high temperature. Tough, touch and good looking? Nice going, HP.
The website says the product is not yet avaialbe (coming soon!) and pricing has not yet been announced.
A study released this morning says Americans are increasingly turning to non-traditional sources for their news. The study looked at how Americans get their news and comes days before a Federal Trade Commission roundtable discussion on journalism.
As a blog reader, you’re ahead of the curve. According to the study, 59% of Americans use the internet to find their news. The Internet ranks #3 for in popularity , behind local TV and national TV. Even though the internet is popular, there is no dominating player when it comes to news. Thanks to search engines like Google, news seekers can find unique perspectives on the news.
The study uncovered 57% of online news consumers rely on 2 to 5 websites for their news. 11% of those online news consumers gather news from more than 5 websites, while 21% commit to just one site. Yet, the overwhelming majority say they have no favorite site.
92% of Americans use multiple platforms to get their news with almost half of them using 4-6 media platforms on a typical day. These platforms include national TV, local TV, the internet, local newspapers, radio, and national newspapers.
Some other interesting study findings:
Portable : 33% of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.
Personalized : 28% of internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and on topics that particularly interest them.
Participatory : 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter
In an effort to help survivors and those with loved ones in Chile, Google has launched a people finder service. The service allows searches in English and Spanish and also allows people to leave information about missing loved ones or let others know they are okay. There are over 22,000 records already but Google cautions that they are not verifying the info, just providing a place for it to be collected.
Google also offers a crisis response page with government contact numbers, maps of seismic activity, and information on making donations to help. As with the earthquake in Haiti last month, cell users can make a $10 donation to the effort by texting the word “Chile” to any of the following numbers: 25383 (Habitat for Humanity), 20222 (World Vision), and 52000 (Salvation Army).
The Indian government has announced it will allow Indian businesses who use Paypal to sell their goods and services abroad to resume using the service, but the block on personal payments remains. The government refuses to lift it, accusing Paypal of being in violation of the country's Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. According to the act Paypal is not authorized to conduct cross border money transfers.
India insists it put the block in place because it believes that freelancers are using Paypal to avoid taxes and also that terrorists are using it to finance their activities. Paypal said it believes the block will be lifted in early March but that as part of the agreement all Indian transactions will be tracked by the government.
Apple has admitted in a report on their website that child labor was used in the facilities of some of the suppliers that manufacture the iPhone. The specific locations of the offending factories were not named, but the inspectors that discovered the violation visited facilities in China, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. They manufacture iPods and iMacs as well as iPhones.
“Across the three facilities, our auditors found records of 11 workers who had been hired prior to reaching the legal age, although the workers were no longer underage or no longer in active employment at the time of our audit,” the report says.
The report says other labor violations were also discovered in some of the locations. More than 60 were requiring workers to work more than 60 hours a week and over a dozen were paying less than minimum wage. 57 were refusing to provide required benefits like maternity leave and other were withholding wages as punishment.
Apple has pledged to insured all of its vendors and suppliers correct any and all violations and adhere to standards in the future.
FROM GAMERTELL - A couple of vintage comic books have sold for one million dollars each. Action Comics No. 1, featuring Superman’s debut, sold for one million and Detective Comics No. 27, with Batman’s debut, sold for a little over one million. MORE »
It was originally thought that some Windows Mobile phones would be able to upgrade to the new Windows Phone 7 Series, provided that they met the hardware benchmarks required by Microsoft. But when asked for specifics about that upgrade plan, Microsoft executive Natasha Kwan said that Windows Mobile devices - including the heralded HTC HD2 - will not be upgraded to Windows Phone 7. Despite the HD2 meeting the processor and display requirements to run 7 series, Kwan says it “doesn’t qualify because it doesn’t have the three buttons.”
You may soon find e-readers priced below $150 in stores later this year, or so Freescale says. Amazon and Sony both use Freescale’s chips in their e-readers. The current technology requires several chips to control the e-ink display, which bumps up the cost and reduces performance but that will soon change when Freescale begins to rollout their new single-chip technology that is much cheaper and allows faster page turns (less than half a second). Freescale has also eliminated features that are not used in e-readers from the chip. That brings down the cost by about $30. Freescale will be offering these new chips as samples to their customers like Amazon and Sony soon. It usually takes about six months from sampling a chip to a finished product going on sale, said Glen Burchers, a marketing director. If e-readers really reach the price point of $150 and gets improved performance, then consumers wouldn’t have to contemplate between having a tablet, or an e-reader.
Today, I had the privilege to appear on Tech Vi’s Bottom Line with host (and former Gadgetell Editor) Iyaz Akhtar. We discussed the latest moves by Microsoft, specifically the lack of upgrades of 6.5 devices to Windows Phone 7 Series. The move could hinder sales of current breed Windows Mobile devices until Windows Phone 7 arrives.
eBay doesn’t always live up to the “if it’s too good to be true” mantra as users around the world use the site to find gadgets way off retail. More often then not (*statistically dubious), it works out for the buyers and seller. But what about knock offs?
Today, HP unveiled their latest super-thin multitouch enabled convertible tablet. The polarizing tablet form factor (people seem to love it or hate it) has been a mainstay in the HP line with limited success. HP looks to tilt this product to the medical and sales arenas. The convertible tablet behaves both like a traditional laptop or swing the screen around and use the unit as a tablet.
A study released this morning says Americans are increasingly turning to non-traditional sources for their news. The study looked at how Americans get their news and comes days before a Federal Trade Commission roundtable discussion on journalism.
In an effort to help survivors and those with loved ones in Chile, Google has launched a people finder service. The service allows searches in English and Spanish and also allows people to leave information about missing loved ones or let others know they are okay. There are over 22,000 records already but Google cautions that they are not verifying the info, just providing a place for it to be collected.
The Indian government has announced it will allow Indian businesses who use Paypal to sell their goods and services abroad to resume using the service, but the block on personal payments remains. The government refuses to lift it, accusing Paypal of being in violation of the country's Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. According to the act Paypal is not authorized to conduct cross border money transfers. 
Apple has admitted in a report on their website that child labor was used in the facilities of some of the suppliers that manufacture the iPhone. The specific locations of the offending factories were not named, but the inspectors that discovered the violation visited facilities in China, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. They manufacture iPods and iMacs as well as iPhones.
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