The Brooks Review

Top Posts

Leica Sofort 2June 13, 2024
Grand Seiko SBGX261February 23, 2023
Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022

Recent Articles

  • Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Options

    This does very little to address some of my other concerns, but it is still an upgrade.

    This does very little to address some of my other concerns, but it is still an upgrade.

  • U.S. Is Said to Scrutinize Apple’s Online Music Tactics

    Brad Stone: The magazine reported that representatives of Apple’s iTunes music service were asking the labels not to participate in Amazon’s promotion, adding that Apple punished those that did by withdrawing marketing support for those songs on iTunes. Hardly sounds illegal to me.

    Brad Stone:

    The magazine reported that representatives of Apple’s iTunes music service were asking the labels not to participate in Amazon’s promotion, adding that Apple punished those that did by withdrawing marketing support for those songs on iTunes.

    Hardly sounds illegal to me.

  • Flexible Sony Screen Can Be Wrapped Around a Pencil

    Charlie Sorrel: The 4.1-inch OLED screen is thin. So thin that it is measured in micrometers. 80μm to be precise: A human hair is a comparatively hefty 100μm. Before I die I hope I hear someone say: “I remember when iPads used to not bend.” That would be sweet.

    Charlie Sorrel:

    The 4.1-inch OLED screen is thin. So thin that it is measured in micrometers. 80μm to be precise: A human hair is a comparatively hefty 100μm.

    Before I die I hope I hear someone say: “I remember when iPads used to not bend.” That would be sweet.

  • Apple Passes Microsoft to Become Second-Largest U.S. Company by Market Capitalization

    Wonder who Ballmer fires today – probably the head janitor.

    Wonder who Ballmer fires today – probably the head janitor.

  • McAfee Buys Trust Digital Mobile Security

    Curt Hopkins: Trust Digital’s offerings support iPhone OS, Android, Web OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian mobile operating systems. McAfee expects to mesh these with its ePolicy Orchestrator, its “enterprise-class, open platform to centrally manage security for systems, networks, data, and compliance solutions.” My guess is that mobile security is going to be big business –…

    Curt Hopkins:

    Trust Digital’s offerings support iPhone OS, Android, Web OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian mobile operating systems. McAfee expects to mesh these with its ePolicy Orchestrator, its “enterprise-class, open platform to centrally manage security for systems, networks, data, and compliance solutions.”

    My guess is that mobile security is going to be big business – we constantly hear about laptops with corporate data being lost, imagine now all the smart phones that are carrying the same data.

  • iPad: The Reason Behind Microsoft’s Reorg?

    David Worthington: The executives that assumed Bach’s responsibilities report directly to CEO Steve Ballmer, and Bach’s management layer was eliminated. This re-org may or may not having anything to do with the iPad, and it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Allard is the guy you want to keep to fight the Android/WebOS/iPhoneOS…

    David Worthington:

    The executives that assumed Bach’s responsibilities report directly to CEO Steve Ballmer, and Bach’s management layer was eliminated.

    This re-org may or may not having anything to do with the iPad, and it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Allard is the guy you want to keep to fight the Android/WebOS/iPhoneOS devices. On top of that Ballmer is the one that needs to go, not the one that needs to start micromanaging the company.

  • Wired Magazine’s iPad Edition Goes Live

    Chris Anderson: I’m delighted to announce that Wired’s first digital edition is now available for the iPad and soon for nearly all other tablets. We have always made our stories accessible online at Wired.com, but as successful as the site is, it is not a magazine. It’s $4.99 and a whopping 527mb (makes what I mentioned about…

    Chris Anderson:

    I’m delighted to announce that Wired’s first digital edition is now available for the iPad and soon for nearly all other tablets. We have always made our stories accessible online at Wired.com, but as successful as the site is, it is not a magazine.

    It’s $4.99 and a whopping 527mb (makes what I mentioned about Android a couple of days ago more relevant) for just one month’s issue. Something has got to give with this pricing. That said in the few minutes I have had to play with it, I am impressed.

  • J Allard’s goodbye note: ‘No chairs were thrown’

    Mary Jo Foley: Allard’s note was entitled “Decide. Change. Reinvent,” and doesn’t mention the canceled Courier tablet project, which my sources claimed contributed to Allard’s decision to resign. I think when your company throws away an awesome project such as the Courier, well then you kinda have to resign.

    Mary Jo Foley:

    Allard’s note was entitled “Decide. Change. Reinvent,” and doesn’t mention the canceled Courier tablet project, which my sources claimed contributed to Allard’s decision to resign.

    I think when your company throws away an awesome project such as the Courier, well then you kinda have to resign.

  • Twitter Attracts Malware – Not Twitter for iPhone

    Original title from InformationWeek was: “Twitter For iPhone Attracts Malware”. Which is blatantly misleading. Mathew Schwartz: One recent attack, which aims to swipe users’ banking information, is capitalizing on the release of the first official Twitter iPhone application. Click a link in an attacker’s Twitter post — one offending message says it’s the “Official Twitter…

    Original title from InformationWeek was: “Twitter For iPhone Attracts Malware”. Which is blatantly misleading.

    Mathew Schwartz:

    One recent attack, which aims to swipe users’ banking information, is capitalizing on the release of the first official Twitter iPhone application. Click a link in an attacker’s Twitter post — one offending message says it’s the “Official Twitter App” — and get directed to a website hosting a Trojan application. Run it, and your Windows PC can end up compromised by a worm that’s gunning for your online banking credentials.

    This is no different than using Viagra to attract people to click links, InfoWeek just wanted the site traffic.

  • Is Steve Ballmer Really the Best Choice to Run Microsoft’s Consumer Business?

    In short no. This is Ballmer grasping at straws, throwing pennies at a problem that needs millions.

    In short no. This is Ballmer grasping at straws, throwing pennies at a problem that needs millions.

  • Microsoft’s J. Allard and Robbie Bach Are Leaving The Company

    Matt Burns: Microsoft is losing two high-profile executives. Both J. Allard, “Chief Experience Offer” and Entertainment and Device Division’s CTO, and Robbie Bach, President of Entertainment and Devices Division, are leaving the company per a Steve Ballmer email from this morning. These are the guys behind the Xbox, Zune, Project Natal, and the dead Courier…

    Matt Burns:

    Microsoft is losing two high-profile executives. Both J. Allard, “Chief Experience Offer” and Entertainment and Device Division’s CTO, and Robbie Bach, President of Entertainment and Devices Division, are leaving the company per a Steve Ballmer email from this morning. These are the guys behind the Xbox, Zune, Project Natal, and the dead Courier project — so basically all of Microsoft’s hit entertainment projects from the last decade.

    Not good for Microsoft at all, and indicative of the overall problem at Microsoft.

  • Congress to Review Telecommunications Law

    Edward Wyatt reporting: “The F.C.C.’s legal authority should be decided by the Congress itself, and not by applying to the Internet a set of onerous rules designed for a different technology, a different situation, and a different era,” he said [James Cicconi]. They need to give the control to the FCC, they need to have…

    Edward Wyatt reporting:

    “The F.C.C.’s legal authority should be decided by the Congress itself, and not by applying to the Internet a set of onerous rules designed for a different technology, a different situation, and a different era,” he said [James Cicconi].

    They need to give the control to the FCC, they need to have done it yesterday.

  • Yext Launches Realtime Reputation Management System For Local Businesses

    Leena Rao: But Yext says that in the realtime web, it’s tough to manage your reputation as a business. So the startup is launching a realtime reputation manager for local businesses. It will claim your local business listing on sites like Citysearch, Yelp, YellowPages, Twitter, Facebook and more. The site will pull reviews for a…

    Leena Rao:

    But Yext says that in the realtime web, it’s tough to manage your reputation as a business. So the startup is launching a realtime reputation manager for local businesses. It will claim your local business listing on sites like Citysearch, Yelp, YellowPages, Twitter, Facebook and more. The site will pull reviews for a local business on all these sites, a track each review for positive ore negative feedback.

    Smart.

  • Whither Verizon?

    Spot on.

    Spot on.

  • AT&T Tests Free Wi-Fi in Times Square

    Charlie Sorrel: As of today, AT&T customers can grab free Wi-Fi when not buying helium balloons or miniature Empire State Buildings. This, we presume, is a way to improve the telco’s notoriously bad data performance in several metropolitan centers. I am kinda (not really) surprised that it took them this long to try filling in…

    Charlie Sorrel:

    As of today, AT&T customers can grab free Wi-Fi when not buying helium balloons or miniature Empire State Buildings. This, we presume, is a way to improve the telco’s notoriously bad data performance in several metropolitan centers.

    I am kinda (not really) surprised that it took them this long to try filling in with Wi-Fi.

  • BP: Equipment in place for Gulf ‘top kill’ try

    Seattle Times: The top kill has proven successful in aboveground wells, but has never before been tried a mile beneath the sea. Company executives peg its chances of success at 60 to 70 percent. 60-70%, how about 10-15%. Hate to be the one to break the bad news, but working a mile under water is…

    Seattle Times:

    The top kill has proven successful in aboveground wells, but has never before been tried a mile beneath the sea. Company executives peg its chances of success at 60 to 70 percent.

    60-70%, how about 10-15%. Hate to be the one to break the bad news, but working a mile under water is a lot different than working in a desert. There is that whole water thing to contend with.

  • Brixx Wood Fired Pizza Fires Waitress Over Facebook Post

    Courtney Rubin: So Johnson, 22, did the 21st century equivalent of griping to the kitchen staff (or the bartender down the street): She vented on Facebook. “Thanks for eating at Brixx,” she wrote, “you cheap piece of —- camper.” (For the record, the $5 tip was 17 percent of the customers’ bill.) Within 48 hours,…

    Courtney Rubin:

    So Johnson, 22, did the 21st century equivalent of griping to the kitchen staff (or the bartender down the street): She vented on Facebook. “Thanks for eating at Brixx,” she wrote, “you cheap piece of —- camper.” (For the record, the $5 tip was 17 percent of the customers’ bill.)

    Within 48 hours, her managers came calling. They showed her a copy of her Facebook comments and fired her for breaking company policy forbidding insulting customers. A Brixx official told the Charlotte Observer she also violated a second company policy: Speaking ill about the company on social networks. According to the company, Johnson signed her agreement to these policies when she was hired.

    My question: Why do people think that what they post online is private?

  • Memo to Steve Jobs: the IAd Is No Miracle Worker

    Great post about mobile advertising and a breakdown of what iAds is and how it stacks up.

    Great post about mobile advertising and a breakdown of what iAds is and how it stacks up.

  • Going paperless gets some big-time backing

    Charles Bermant: Consumers have been reluctant to embrace paperless systems for three reasons, Shivers said. They are forced to log in to several systems and can’t keep track of different passwords; it’s too easy to miss a due date; and there is no effective way to manage the disparate documents. “Half of our target market…

    Charles Bermant:

    Consumers have been reluctant to embrace paperless systems for three reasons, Shivers said. They are forced to log in to several systems and can’t keep track of different passwords; it’s too easy to miss a due date; and there is no effective way to manage the disparate documents. “Half of our target market pays their bills online,” Shivers said. “But only 20 percent receives them electronically.”

    Color me skeptical that this company can take the market from 12% to 50%, but you got love their ambition.

  • Google Chrome for Mac and Linux Is Out of Beta

    John Gruber on Safari’s problems compared to Chrome: Safari really needs an option to automatically reopen pages that were left open. It’s crazy that Safari still defaults to the same poorly-chosen behavior of Mosaic from 1993 — where quitting the app implies closing and forgetting all open browser windows. I know about (and make daily…

    John Gruber on Safari’s problems compared to Chrome:

    Safari really needs an option to automatically reopen pages that were left open. It’s crazy that Safari still defaults to the same poorly-chosen behavior of Mosaic from 1993 — where quitting the app implies closing and forgetting all open browser windows. I know about (and make daily use of) the “Reopen All Windows from Last Session” command in Safari’s History menu, but there should be an option to make it automatic, and in my opinion, it should be the default behavior. Closing windows and quitting the browser should not be related tasks.