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RIM via press release: >Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced today that a selection of premium apps worth a total value of more than US $100 will be offered free of charge to subscribers as an expression of appreciation for their patience during the recent service disruptions. I can only imagine how…
RIM via press release:
>Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced today that a selection of premium apps worth a total value of more than US $100 will be offered free of charge to subscribers as an expression of appreciation for their patience during the recent service disruptions.
I can only imagine how excited all those stodgy BlackBerry users are at the idea they can get SIMS 3 and Bubble Bash 2 for free — *finally*.
Pretty impressive. [via Viticci]
Pretty impressive.
Apple through press release: > Apple® today announced it has sold over four million of its new iPhone® 4S, just three days after its launch on October 14. In addition, more than 25 million customers are already using iOS 5, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, in the first five days of its release,…
Apple through press release:
> Apple® today announced it has sold over four million of its new iPhone® 4S, just three days after its launch on October 14. In addition, more than 25 million customers are already using iOS 5, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, in the first five days of its release, and more than 20 million customers have signed up for iCloud®, a breakthrough set of free cloud services that automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and push it to all your devices.
Wow.
Dr. Drang: >If iMessage offered significant extra features, I might see some value in it. Allowing a conversation to jump between an iPhone and an iPad, is a nice feature, but since I don’t have an iPad, it means nothing to me. I have to disagree with him on iMessage, because I think it is…
Dr. Drang:
>If iMessage offered significant extra features, I might see some value in it. Allowing a conversation to jump between an iPhone and an iPad, is a nice feature, but since I don’t have an iPad, it means nothing to me.
I have to disagree with him on iMessage, because I think it is actually a very interesting feature. Texting is much bigger among the younger crowd and guess what, it is expensive — so are iPhones. An iPod touch, or an old iPhone with iMessage becomes a great, inexpensive, option for the younger crowd. Sure it would need wifi, but that’s not overly hard anymore.
And why turn it off, it’s not like there is anything detrimental to keeping iMessage turned on.
Overall iMessage isn’t a feature that is going to change the world, but if you family and friends are all iPhone users (increasingly more likely), it’s a very nice tool to have.
Richard L. Brandt profiling Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: >He wanted a decentralized, even disorganized company where independent ideas would prevail over groupthink. He instituted, as a company-wide rule, the concept of the “two-pizza team”—that is, any team should be small enough that it could be fed with two pizzas. Overall a pretty interesting look at…
Richard L. Brandt profiling Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos:
>He wanted a decentralized, even disorganized company where independent ideas would prevail over groupthink. He instituted, as a company-wide rule, the concept of the “two-pizza team”—that is, any team should be small enough that it could be fed with two pizzas.
Overall a pretty interesting look at the man behind Amazon.
Dave Caolo on how great location based reminders are: >If you had asked me to describe what I want in a perfect reminder app, I’d list simple task creation, dependability, multi-device sync and so on. That’s exactly what Guy describes: I listed my desires in terms of what I’m already using. I never would have…
Dave Caolo on how great location based reminders are:
>If you had asked me to describe what I want in a perfect reminder app, I’d list simple task creation, dependability, multi-device sync and so on. That’s exactly what Guy describes: I listed my desires in terms of what I’m already using. I never would have said, “Place a geofence around a given location and prompt me to act upon arriving at leaving that spot,” but it turns out that’s precisely what the perfect reminder app should do
This works really well with OmniFocus — I only wish they could also make OmniFocus work with Siri.
Like many other AT&T customers, I am having great trouble getting my new iPhone 4S activated. It is stuck on the screen that reads: >Could Not Activate iPhone >Your activation is still pending. You will receive an email notification once your activation is complete. >We’re sorry. There was a problem connecting to the server. Please…
Like many other AT&T customers, I am having great trouble getting my new iPhone 4S activated. It is stuck on the screen that reads:
>Could Not Activate iPhone
>Your activation is still pending. You will receive an email notification once your activation is complete.
>We’re sorry. There was a problem connecting to the server. Please try again later.
### Here’s what I know from the horses mouth (AT&T) ###
I was able to get through to AT&T customer care and the first representative could not get the phone activated even though the system showed it was activated. Now it is important to note that he was operating without any iPhone 4S and (likely) iOS 5 manuals. After ~15 minutes of trying he sent me on to a technical support person.
The technical support lady could not get the phone working either and was not familiar with the error message. She called down to their specialized Apple staff and reported back to me: “The servers are really busy I am told, and your phone *will* activate in an hour.”
I clarified that she was saying that it would for sure be active in an hour, and again she said “yes”. She said to just leave it as it is and wait. We hung up, but I arranged for her to call back in an hour to see if it worked. Its been about 25 minutes and still no activation.
Check back as I will update this post with information as I get it.
*(Side note: I am hearing Apple expected to sell 5 times as many AT&T models as other carriers. This problem also seems to have arisen once the West Coast of the U.S. started getting their phones. AT&T was also very helpful and nice — I still just want the phone working.)*
**UPDATED** (on Oct 14, 2011): AT&T just called me back and the phone was still not activated even though they say everything looks fine on their end. The call was disconnected while I was on hold with them and they have yet to call back. This seems like a load issue on their network and best to just wait it out if you can.
**UPDATED** (on Oct 14, 2011): AT&T was no help, but my internet went down (Comcast blows) and so I tried activating over 3G — that worked. And [I am not alone](http://www.ipatrix.com/3812/att-woes/).
A big thanks to this weeks sponsor: Grandview. I think what I [first wrote](https://brooksreview.net/2011/05/grandview/) about Grandview still rings true: >It’s not something that will make you focus better, or write better — it is a very unique app that is loads of fun to use. I have been testing the app for quite sometime now…
A big thanks to this weeks sponsor: Grandview. I think what I [first wrote](https://brooksreview.net/2011/05/grandview/) about Grandview still rings true:
>It’s not something that will make you focus better, or write better — it is a very unique app that is loads of fun to use. I have been testing the app for quite sometime now and have to say that I really do enjoy it — not for every writing moment — there are times though when it feels like the right tool for the job.
It’s a clever little app and I really enjoy using it. Go get your copy and see for yourself, you can snag it in the [Mac App Store here](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grandview/id432436025?mt=12).
Camera guy to 911: “There’s a huge group of people fighting, pepper spray, super heroes…” God, I love Seattle.
Camera guy to 911: “There’s a huge group of people fighting, pepper spray, super heroes…”
God, I love Seattle.
The Technology Review on the valuation of Facebook: >More likely, however, is that the value of Facebook and other social media companies is being driven by the kind of group think that has characterised so many bubbles in the past. In these, it doesn’t matter to a trader what Facebook is really worth as long…
The Technology Review on the valuation of Facebook:
>More likely, however, is that the value of Facebook and other social media companies is being driven by the kind of group think that has characterised so many bubbles in the past. In these, it doesn’t matter to a trader what Facebook is really worth as long as he or she thinks some other idiot will pay more.
Good article that breaks down why Facebook is likely overvalued.
Horace Dediu: >What this level of spending implies is that iCloud (and Siri and iTunes) are expensive. They may seem ephemeral and even trivial as services, but they require a staggering commitment few can make. Apple made that commitment and they made it early on, before the first quarter billion users were even on the…
Horace Dediu:
>What this level of spending implies is that iCloud (and Siri and iTunes) are expensive. They may seem ephemeral and even trivial as services, but they require a staggering commitment few can make. Apple made that commitment and they made it early on, before the first quarter billion users were even on the horizon.
If accurate, this data shows just how much effort that Apple put into its cloud services this time around.
One look at the picture of that notebook and you have to think there will be a forthcoming lawsuit from Apple.
One look at the picture of that notebook and you have to think there will be a forthcoming lawsuit from Apple.
“The key to iOS’s success is that you can figure almost everything out just by looking at it.” — John Gruber
Rita McGrath: >So, not only are we still left asking whether Groupon is beneficial to merchants, now it’s uncertain as to whether or not its business actually benefits the customer. Interesting that now it seems Groupon’s deals aren’t always “deals” — I wonder how many people really thought Groupon was around for the long haul?
Rita McGrath:
>So, not only are we still left asking whether Groupon is beneficial to merchants, now it’s uncertain as to whether or not its business actually benefits the customer.
Interesting that now it seems Groupon’s deals aren’t always “deals” — I wonder how many people really thought Groupon was around for the long haul?
Dan Frommer: >In an informal flip through the Fortune 500 companies, the only industry that seems to come close to Apple’s current growth — at its size or larger — is the oil business. Chevron, for instance, is twice Apple’s size and is growing at the same rate. There will be a point when growing…
Dan Frommer:
>In an informal flip through the Fortune 500 companies, the only industry that seems to come close to Apple’s current growth — at its size or larger — is the oil business. Chevron, for instance, is twice Apple’s size and is growing at the same rate.
There will be a point when growing at the rate Apple current is will be very difficult — if not impossible — to achieve. Luckily, Apple seems to not be close to such a point.
W.J. Hennigan reporting on [last weeks Predator Drone virus](https://brooksreview.net/2011/10/safety-first/): >The Air Force shot down those claims, saying the virus “in question is a credential stealer, not a keylogger, found routinely on computer networks and is considered more of a nuisance than an operational threat. It is not designed to transmit data or video, nor is…
W.J. Hennigan reporting on [last weeks Predator Drone virus](https://brooksreview.net/2011/10/safety-first/):
>The Air Force shot down those claims, saying the virus “in question is a credential stealer, not a keylogger, found routinely on computer networks and is considered more of a nuisance than an operational threat. It is not designed to transmit data or video, nor is it designed to corrupt data, files or programs on the infected computer.”
*Guys, guys, calm down. They aren’t logging anything — they’re just stealing our top secret credentials. No big deal.*
And later:
>[…] Cook said the Air Force continues to strengthen cyber defenses, “using the latest anti-virus software and other methods to protect Air Force resources and assure our ability to execute Air Force missions.
*Before we didn’t see the need to pay for this years version of Norton, but we now see why we need that. The update should be done in 3 mins and 37 seconds.*
A very cool little video that shows off a piece of software meant to allow the blind to use tablets. I love stuff like this.
A very cool little video that shows off a piece of software meant to allow the blind to use tablets. I love stuff like this.
JR Raphael reporting on a new change to the Verizon privacy policy that all users are opted-in to by default: >This info includes the URLs of websites you visit over Verizon’s network and also your device’s location data. Some of those details may be shared with outside companies as well. Verizon says none of it…
JR Raphael reporting on a new change to the Verizon privacy policy that all users are opted-in to by default:
>This info includes the URLs of websites you visit over Verizon’s network and also your device’s location data. Some of those details may be shared with outside companies as well. Verizon says none of it will personally identify you.
You should read the report and then opt-out.
Florian Mueller: >After today’s decision, I believe no company in the industry be able to launch any new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia anytime soon without incurring a high risk of another interim injunction. The two patents on which today’s ruling is based aren’t Galaxy Tab 10.1-specific at all. They will affect all Android-based smartphones…
Florian Mueller:
>After today’s decision, I believe no company in the industry be able to launch any new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia anytime soon without incurring a high risk of another interim injunction. The two patents on which today’s ruling is based aren’t Galaxy Tab 10.1-specific at all. They will affect all Android-based smartphones and tablet computers, across all vendors.
Oh, that can’t be a comfortable spot for Android handset makers.
It appears that iCloud — specifically iCloud email — is intermittently working for many users today. Looks like mostly too much traffic and it is buckling under the pressure. Here’s the link to the status page. Maybe MobileMe isn’t as distant a memory as we all hoped.
It appears that iCloud — specifically iCloud email — is intermittently working for many users today. Looks like mostly too much traffic and it is buckling under the pressure. Here’s the link to the status page.
Maybe MobileMe isn’t as distant a memory as we all hoped.