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Equatorial Guinea loves the iPhone |
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
 Unlocked iPhones isn't something new, but when researchers at the NetApplications took a look to see what countries were using iPhones, the results were unexpected. Yes, there are unlocked iPhones all over the world. But in particular, there are alot in Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea ist the 3rd largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a president who is reported to be in constant contact with God.
This small Central African country's iPhone web browser usage is 2.21%. That means for every 100 people getting online in the country, 2 of them are doing it with an iPhone (rounding down of course). In a country of 551,000 people with only 9000 telephone land lines and 28000 mobile phone users, it is easy to see how a handful or two of iPhones can get such a large market share. But, if you are ever looking to stump someone in a impromptu trivia question, here is you ace in the whole. What country has the highest percentage of web hits on an iPhone compared to any other browser?
iPhones across the world.
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FINALLY! The reason for the Intel switch. |
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
 So many years ago we all heard Steve say that the Mac has been living a secret life as a x86 platform in a secret building on the Apple campus. Then he started switching everything to Intel processors, everyone's world was turned upside down, but we all recovered. The reason for the switch was because Apple and Intel had similar roadmaps. Some people said it was because IBM couldn't produce, some said it was so Apple could compete better with Microsoft. Finally we have the real reason, the "atom".
The Atom processor is the next generation of Intel processors. They consume only 0.6-2.5 watt of power , yet contain the Core 2 Duo instruction set (current C2Duo chips pull 35 watts). The power to watt is amazing then. These low power chips are the reason Apple switched. The roadmap for Apple was clear with the release of the iPhone and the MacBook Air, smaller is beter. Now Intel has laid out it's roadmap, smaller & faster.
Some other fun facts about Atom, sized at 25 mm2, you can fit 11 of them onto a penny. Scalable up to 1.8 GHz speed.
Intel's press release.
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Microsoft : "We really botched this.” |
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Friday, 29 February 2008 |
 Seems like Microsoft is always in court, doesn't it? Imagine what their lawyer fees must be. Anyways. When in court, documents arise that you don't want to be seen. This is the case with some documents related to the Windows Aero "experience". Apparently the original requirements to run Vista were higher than what eventually was called Vista "capable". Vista capable means it can run Vista, but not necessarily all of Vista.
The strange part is why they crippled Vista. Microsoft is claiming they crippled the end-users so that Intel could make a good sales quarter. If Microsoft would have stuck to its guns then Vista would have rolled out with higher requirements and everyone who owned a Vista capable machine would have the complete Vista experience. But they didn't, and as Microsoft's Jim Allchin wrote in a private email "We really botched this". This being the Vista "experience".
There are a bunch of really funny quotes you can pull out of the linked article. My favorite is "No one really believed we would ever ship [Vista] so they didn't start
the work [on new drivers]...." by Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky. Funny stuff.
So the question remains. If Vista had stuck to the original requirements, would it still had such a lackluster kick-off and low adoption rate by the industry? Are Vista's problems Intel's fault, or is Vista failure squarely on Microsoft?
Digital Journal's Article
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How Green is the MacBook Air? |
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Thursday, 28 February 2008 |
 The EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) is a website that rates how green a product is. You can recieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold star depending on you how well your product ranks in on a specified 28 point system. The Mac Book Air comes in with a silver star. However, Lenovo's X300 gets a gold star. The problem is, there isn't really anything different.
Lenovo gets the gold star for having 21 of 28 optional points, and the MBA gets a silver for getting 19 out of the 28. Two points the Lenovo get that the MBA doesn't are for renewable power supply (a $1200, 80lb solar charger), and that Lenovo releases their global impact report (the Global Reporting Initiative, GRI), and Apple will not. So, the MBA and the X300 both are technically a silver star, but because Apple won't release trade secret data, and there is a 3rd party vendor that sells an 80lb recharable battery, Lenovo gets a gold and Apple gets a Silver.
Ted Samson goes into more detail.
EPEAT website.
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
 CanWest 2008 has it's contest laid out this year. It's official. Apple vs. Linux vs. Microsoft. All three OS's will be highlighted in the contest to see who can gain access to the computer. All OS' will be fully patched at contest time and running common applications (Web browsing, IM and e-mail). The Mac will be a MacBook Air (on Leopard), the Microsoft laptop will be a Fujitsu U810 running Vista (no word yet on which flavor), and the Ubuntu machine will be a Sony VAIO VGN-TZ37CNB (which apparently has a really poorly placed power switch).
This contest will be a good one. Winner gets the laptop they break into. The question is who is going to go after what? Will people try to break into a specific OS because of the prize, lack of secuirty, or for notoriety of breaking what is considered a strong OS? Either way I feel that one will break fast (Microsoft), Ubuntu will go toward the end of the week, and the Mac OS will fall in the last two days.
Good Luck Leopard!
CanSecWest Conference
Wll Hack for Hardware
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Lenovo challenges MBA in weight |
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Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
 Lenovo released today their ThinkPad X300 laptop to be in directo competition with Apple's MacBook Air. It comes with a few extra features (3 USB ports, lower power consumption & DVD burner), but it also comes with a slower processor (75% slower than the low end MacBook Air), and if you add in the DVD burner it loses in the weight to the Mac Book Air.
Some basic specs for the ThinkPad X300 in comparison to the MacBook Air. RAM : X300 has 1GB, MBA has 2GB. Weight : X300 can weigh from 2.93 lbs to 3.13 lbs (depending on DVD drive), the MBA comes in at an even 3 lbs. USB: X300 has three, MBA has one. Processor : X300 uses 12W of power but only has a 1.2 GHz CPU, while the MBA uses 20W and packs a 1.6 or 1.8 GHz CPU. Storage : the X300 only comes with a 64GB solid state hard drive, the MBA comes with either a traditional HD or a 64GB SSD. Price : the X300 starts at $3006 with no DVD or $3111 with a DVD. The MBA starts at $1799 and goes up to $3098 for the SSD model. The exteranl DVD burner for the MBA cost an additional $99. And last, but not least the size. The MBA wins out here as it measures between .16 and .76 inches, while the X300 measures between .73 and .92.
For the price you are paying, I'm not sure if is worth it. Lenovo going with only SSD is a little bold, but I'm not sure how many people would rather have a "Lenovo" over a Mac.
Lenovo's X300 homepage
MacBook Air spec page
PC World review
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Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
 Adobe's AIR ( Adobe Integreated Runtime ) is supposed to revolutionize mobile devices. Okay, is it me or does that line only work when Steve delivers it. CNet correspondent Charles Cooper was at Adobe's press conference on Monday convering the AIR release. (insert our own pun here about releasing AIR if you must)
The big news of this is the support for Mac immediately (as seen in AOL's XDrive Desktop Lite) and for Linux support in the near future. This could be a great boost to Linux. The sad part is that nothing really stood out about it yet. But it is in its' infancy so who knows, there might be a must have app in the works, just nobody's heard about it yet.
Blogging about AIR
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RIAA cleared on charges, for now. |
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Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
 The RIAA was in court the other day, but this time as a defendent. Tanya Andersen was suing the RIAA & MediaSentry for malicious prosection. Tanya is a single disabled mother who was sued by the RIAA in February 2005. That case ended with her getting her attorney's fees paid for. and led to this suit.
For now the RIAA is cleared, the judge dropped the charges. However, Tanya has 30 days to refile, if she can have physical proof to back her charges. So what the heck is malicious prosecution and what did the RIAA do? Tanya claims in the lawsuit that the RIAA invaded her privacy, conducted libel and slander against her, and practiced deceptive business practices.
As far as what the heck malicious prosecution is, I'll let a lawyer explain that one.
More info about the judge dropping her lawsuit.
Props to Antonio for submitting this lead.
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