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The Telecom Digest for July 06, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 182 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Thinner, Faster, Smarter iPhone Raises the Stakes (Monty Solomon)
Taking the Mystery Out of Web Anonymity (Monty Solomon)
Microsoft Calling. Anyone There? (Monty Solomon)
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Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:28:10 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Thinner, Faster, Smarter iPhone Raises the Stakes
Message-ID: <p0624089ac8570fcf436f@[10.0.1.3]>
PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
Thinner, Faster, Smarter iPhone Raises the Stakes
By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
JUNE 20, 2010
Just three years ago, Apple wasn't in the mobile-phone business at
all. Since then, its game-changing iPhone has become the most
influential smartphone in the world. Now, on June 24, the company
will roll out the fourth generation of the device, called the iPhone
4.
While attractive, capable new smartphones emerge regularly from
competitors, a new iPhone deserves special attention for two reasons.
First, the device lies at the center of a huge ecosystem of 225,000
apps, plus popular related gadgets like Apple's iPod Touch connected
media player and iPad tablet, which collectively are approaching 100
million units sold. Second, the iPhone's multitouch, gesture-based
interface; elegant Web browser; sophisticated music and video
playback; and other features have been emulated on many competing
devices, so what Apple does affects the whole industry.
I've been testing the iPhone 4 for more than a week. In both hardware
and software, it is a major leap over its already-excellent
predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.
It has some downsides and limitations-most important, the overwhelmed
AT&T network in the U.S., which, in my tests, the new phone handled
sometimes better and, unfortunately, sometimes worse than its
predecessor. I'll get into that below. But, overall, Apple has
delivered a big, well-designed update that, in my view, keeps it in
the lead in the smartphone wars.
The iPhone 4 is a dramatic redesign. It manages to pack a radically
sharper screen; a second, front-facing camera; a larger battery; a
better rear camera with flash; and a faster processor into a body
that is 24% thinner, a bit narrower, and retains the same length and
weight as its predecessor's. In fact, Apple claims that the iPhone 4
is the world's thinnest smartphone and sports the world's
highest-resolution smartphone screen.
...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322951290405346.html
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100622/apple-iphone4-review/
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 10:33:54 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Taking the Mystery Out of Web Anonymity
Message-ID: <p062408a0c8579da78263@[10.0.1.3]>
Taking the Mystery Out of Web Anonymity
By JOHN MARKOFF
July 2, 2010
THE Obama Administration is trying to fix the Internet's dog problem.
The problem, as depicted in Peter Steiner's legendary 1993 New Yorker
cartoon, is that on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog. And thus
the enduring conundrum over who can be trusted in cyberspace.
The Internet affords anonymity to its users - a boon to privacy and
freedom of speech. But that very anonymity is also behind the
explosion of cybercrime that has swept across the Web.
Can privacy be preserved while bringing a semblance of safety and
security to a world that seems increasingly lawless?
Last month, Howard Schmidt, the nation's cyberczar, offered the Obama
administration's proposal to make the Web a safer place - a
"voluntary trusted identity" system that would be the high-tech
equivalent of a physical key, a fingerprint and a photo ID card, all
rolled into one. The system might use a smart identity card, or a
digital credential linked to a specific computer, and would
authenticate users at a range of online services.
The idea is to create a federation of private online identity
systems. Users could select which system to join, and only registered
users whose identities have been authenticated could navigate those
systems. The approach contrasts with one that would require a
government-issued Internet driver's license. (Civil liberties groups
oppose a government system, fearful that it could lead to national
identity cards.)
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/weekinreview/04markoff.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
This is long overdue. The lack of any effective means of
identification is what detroyed the Citizens Radio Service ("Citizen's
Band") in the U.S., and Usenet isn't far behind.
If I had to guess at the one big reason for the success of message
boards hosted by Google and Yahoo, it would be that they are run by
commercial companies with a stake in keeping the discussion civil and
a vested interest in avoiding "the trajedy of the commons" that has
affected Usenet.
In the end, people grow up and the circus leaves town. It's time for
those who use the Internet to be accountable for their actions.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 10:40:37 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Microsoft Calling. Anyone There?
Message-ID: <p062408a1c8579f43e2f8@[10.0.1.3]>
Microsoft Calling. Anyone There?
By ASHLEE VANCE
July 4, 2010
Microsoft's engineers and executives spent two years creating a new
line of smartphones with playful names that sounded like creatures
straight out of "The Cat in the Hat" - Kin One and Kin Two. Stylish
designs, an emphasis on flashy social-networking features and an
all-out marketing blitz were meant to prove that Microsoft could
build the right product at the right time for the finickiest
customers - gossiping youngsters with gadget skills.
But last week, less than two months after the Kins arrived in stores,
Microsoft said it would kill the products.
"That's a record-breaking quick end to a product, as far as I am
concerned," said Michael Cronan, a designer who helped drive the
branding of products like Kindle for Amazon and TiVo. "It did seem
like a big mistake on their part."
The Kins' flop adds to a long list of products - from watches to
music players - that have plagued Microsoft's consumer division,
while its business group has suffered as well through
less-than-successful offerings like Windows Vista and Windows for
tablet computers.
In particular, the Kin debacle is a reflection of Microsoft's
struggle to deliver what the younger generation of
technology-obsessed consumers wants. From hand-held products to
business software, Microsoft seems behind the times.
Part of its problem may be that its ability to intrigue and attract
software developers is also waning, which threatens its ability to
steer markets over the long term. When it comes to electronic
devices, people writing software have turned their attention to
platforms from Apple and Google.
Meanwhile, young technology companies today rely on free, open-source
business software rather than Microsoft's products, so young
students, soon to be looking for jobs, have embraced open-source
software as well.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/technology/05soft.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
The Times' reporter is being kind to Microsoft: major colleges and
universities have been distributing open-source software, mostly
GNU/Linux, for years now. There wasn't anything noble about it: the
schools found out the hard way that open-source didn't cause the
rampant virus and spyware plagues that Microsoft's products were
subject to.
As for Microsoft's lack of success in consumer markets, that's also
easy to explain: users are so frustrated with the Microsoft Method[tm]
of price gauging and with its cavalier policies toward customers
begging for support ("Go away, little man, you bother me...") that the
company's infamous trademark is a liability in the consumer world. As
with NYNEX and its ill-fated foray into Retail with the NYNEX stores,
Microsoft is learning that customers have long memories.
Bill Horne
Moderator
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End of The Telecom Digest (3 messages)
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