James Kendrick:
Version 2.2 bakes tethering right into the OS. An Android 2.2 phone can supply the data connectivity for any device over Wi-Fi with just a few simple steps. Laptops can also be tethered via a USB cable. It is important to note that even though this is now integrated into Android, the carriers will have final say on whether a given phone will have this activated, and how much it will cost to use.
Mathew Ingram:
That said, however, the company maintains that the issue was a simple oversight, and nothing worth getting concerned about. And this isn’t the first time Google has played down complaints about its behavior on privacy. After Buzz was launched and a number of users criticized the company for connecting them with all their email contacts whether they wanted to be connected or not — subsequently publicizing those connections without making it clear they would be public — Google CEO Eric Schmidt told attendees of one conference that the issue was blown out of proportion, that there was no harm caused and that the situation was primarily a result of users misunderstanding the service.
Privacy is an issue that will not go away, better square away your companies privacy policy.
This is hilarious, a must read.
Kamran Laider:
Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube indefinitely in a bid to contain “blasphemous” material, officials said on Thursday.
Pakistan is like a less strict China, which well…
Nice reporting from Engadget.
MG Siegler:
“TV meets web. Web meets TV” is the slogan Google is going with for this new endeavor. It will work as a new box — you’ll just hook up your existing cable or satellite box to it. All the hardware will include a keyboard and a mouse — but it will work with Android phones too. And you can use multiple Android devices to control the same TV — no more fighting over the remote.
No word yet on performance or battery life. Interestingly it only works on the newest version of Android – 2.1.
This is stupid, if HP really bought Palm to bring WebOS to their printers then they are a special kind of idiot. Printers are going to become specialty items shortly. There is no need for them other than art production.
Mossberg:
However, the data speeds I got in my tests weren’t spectacular, or anywhere close to the typical maximum Sprint claims, even in Baltimore, where the company’s 4G network is mature. And, when using 4G, the EVO’s battery runs down alarmingly fast. In my tests, it didn’t last through a full day with 4G turned on. The carrier, in fact, is thinking of advising users to turn off the 4G network access when they don’t think they need it, to save battery life. This undercuts the whole idea of faster cellular speeds.
This is the same as Google telling people to turn off the features that they bought the phone for to save battery life. It is stupid – this is clearly the reason so many people evangelize the iPhone. Imagine if Apple was telling users to do something like this, they would be slaughtered in the media. So should Sprint.
Kontra @ Counter Notions:
The evil man behind the curtain in this scenario is not Apple’s curation, it’s the frightening prospect of Google getting cut off from search and ad revenue derived from its naked domination of the search box on top of your web browser.
Harsh words for Google, but I can’t disagree.
Richard Lai:
They often dream, but also repeatedly tearing apart their dreams, like a miserable painter who keeps tearing up his or her drafts, “if we keep working like this, we might as well quit dreaming for the rest of our lives.” They manufacture the world’s top electronic products, yet gathering their own fortune at the slowest possible pace. The office’s guest network account has a password that ends with “888” — like many businessmen, they love this number, and they worship its phonetic equivalence [“rich”]. Little did they know that it’s their own hands protecting the country’s “8,” yet their overtime hours, lottery tickets, and even horse racing bets, struggle to find the “8” that belongs to themselves.
This is an amazing story, this is a great look at the company that makes all the worlds gadgets. Humbling.
Thomas Fitzgerald:
I think Ted’s problem, like that of many analysts/bloggers/journalists/geeks etc on the issue is that they’re confusing fundamental flaws with not liking something. People like Ted don’t like the closed nature of the App store, but that doesn’t mean it’s fundamentally flawed, or a lack of choice. If it was fundamentally flawed it wouldn’t be a success because people would have chosen to buy something else. That success been determined by the market you so desperately want to preserve the freedom of.
Very interesting to see how well the iPad is fairing given how new it is. Also there is a much larger share of Mac users than I would have expected.
Looks similar to something I have seen before, I just can’t quite place it.
Charlie Sorrel:
Good news for international iPad owners. Apple has finally switched on the iPad App Store in your country. Or rather, it is in the process of switching it on in those countries that will be lucky enough to get the iPad itself at the end of this month.
Brian X. Chen:
The CEO added that “churn” rates (i.e., a measure of customers leaving) for AT&T are staying at record-low rates, so he expects that customers will remain loyal.
He either knows something that we don’t about Verizon’s ability to get the iPhone (very likely) or he has his head stuck way in the sand.
Wrap-up of the first day of the Google I/O conference. Where they announced all sorts of things, including a web app store for Google’s Chrome web browser.
Andrew Karneka:
Translation: turn off GPS if you aren’t using it, turn off background sync if you aren’t using, and stop setting your Twitter app to constantly update for new tweets. The same goes for your RSS apps, widgets, and more. Of course, these are major features that attracted many people to Android, so asking them to forgo those options in favor of extending battery life is an unattractive solution to many.
Now Apple doesn’t look so crazy does it?