Raising The Bar #FAIL - @attnews - for @ANDR0IDD0ES

First we have the iPhone 4 antenna issue. Then we have Steve Jobs saying "there is no issue, [only Zuul]." Then we have Apple saying "we were aware of it."

And the beat goes on.

Today, AT&T has stepped in the iPoo too. Apple Inc. has responded with "we're stunned" after finding out that their iPhones use a "totally wrong" formula to show just how many bars of signal strength they are really getting. Now Apple is saying... drum roll please... that THIS is why the bars are dropping when you hold your phone... [wrong]. We've all seen the videos where the bars drop at a tremendous pace. The drop seems exaggerated because the phone is improperly calculating, and therefore displaying, four or five bars of signal strength when it shouldn't, Apple said. "Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place," the company said in an official statement.

There are no bars, only Zuul.

So this is all new news, right? Wrong. The original iPhone in 2007, along with the following 3G and 3GS, suffered from this miscalculation as well. "We will fix its signal strength formula to conform to other AT&T phones through a free software update for iPhone models 3G, 3Gs and 4 within a few weeks. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see," Apple said.

So lets recap here:

• No signal.
• You're doing it wrong.
• We knew about this.
• Go buy a case.
• There is no problem.
• Miscalculation.
• Signal isn't real.
• It's not our fault.

What do you think the next excuse is? My vote is "the dog ate it." 

Posted via email from kquade's blog

iPhone iOS4 Does, Now. (Continued story) #imjustsaying

You may remember my earlier article, iphone does but androids been doing. This is part two.

-------------------------------------------------------

Apple has just released the iOS 4 update for iPhone and iPod touch owners. The iPhone 4 might not be in stores until Thursday, but existing owners can take advantage of the new software features coming to the new device starting now. [read the full article at Mashable]

-------------------------------------------------------

It's nice to see that Apple has gotten on the boat with these things. For example, folders. M-Dos had those back in 1978. My old RIM phone had those too on the SD card. My Android has them of course. Shoot, even the Mac OSX here at work has them! Good "jobs" Apple. Way to come into the '80 feature-margin with this update.

Said examples also had multitasking too. I'm just saying.

Posted via email from kquade's blog

Google Unleashing A Cloud Based iTunes Competitor This Fall - #andr0idd0es

Where do you get your music? iTunes.
Where do you get your movies? iTunes.
Where do you get your tv shows? iTunes.
Why do you need an app for Android to enjoy your music? iTunes.
What were Google, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music discussing last December? iTunes.

...to be more precise, the new kid in town - [Google Music].

Cnet, TechCrunch and major music companies are all reporting that Google is getting ready to storm the beaches of Apple's baby, iTunes. Let's go back to the keynotes from day 2 of Google I/O and see what may have gone unoticed by some.

1. Android devices can now purchase and download music from the Android Market, over the air.
2. Google is working to reproduce iTunes abilities with just a browser (their new approach to success), no iTunes.

Some may ask, "Well, What about existing iTunes libraries?" Google is reportedly enabling users to play non-DRM music straight from Android devices. While their demo at Google I/O showed music "magically" appearing in a library, there was a string attached: it was a stream.

Streaming is a goal that Google has for their music services to come, but the real magic comes with the ever looming 'cloud' that is Google's backbone. While "Apple's managers haven't revealed many details about their plans, but did discuss offering iTunes users a means to store copies of their music libraries on Apple's servers," reported cnet, Google knows the cloud. They are the cloud. My growing-by-the-second 7.49 GB Gmail account can testify right along with my 3 (might I add also free) Google Apps accounts.

Now for those of you that think that Apple has the upper hand when it comes to music, vs. an advertising company, Google may surprise you. Google Discover Music and [Google Music] are results of trials carried out with Lala.com and iLike before Apple and Myspace ended them with a buyout.

In all honesty, big lables are tired of the iTunes monopoly. They get one source. One price. One way, or the highway. They want choices. We want choices. To quote Google I/O, "this is not the future we want." For years Google, Facebook, and even AOL have been asked to step up to the iTunes plate.

As early as this fall, it's on! 

Posted via email from kquade's blog

HTML5: The Origins of RIA (for @ANDR0IDD0ES) - http://j.mp/cEKXPC

While this isn't a topic that is "directly linked" (spoiler 1) to the Android OS, it is still a major factor in todays mobile market. As we've already seen, large companies have the ability to drive the market while media companies (since this has to do with multi-media presentation and distribution) like Time Warner and NBC Universal can really ruin your day.

Let's begin by taking a look at the history/origins of several web-media platforms.

FLASH
1996 - Birthed by FutureWave as "FutureSplash Animator"
1996 - Macromedia aquires and re-brands F-utureSp-LASH as "Flash"
2007 - Adobe owns Flash, releases CS3
2008 - Adobe releases CS4
2010 - Adobe declares they will not support Apple's iPhone or iPad beyond CS4
2010 - Adobe releases CS5

SILVERLIGHT
2007 - Birthed by Microsoft
2010 - Silverlight 4 Release Candidate arrives

JAVAFX
2009 - Birthed by Sun Microsystems
2010 - JAVAFX (v1.3) produces a stable release

HTML5
2007 - Birthed by Ian Hickson of Google, Inc. (spoiler 2)
2010 - HTML5 is still a draft

Let's now look at who adopted these standards first.

• Shockwave: Intel
• Flash: Microsoft
• Silverlight: Microsoft
• JavaFX: Adobe
• HTML5: Google

Hey Apple, where'd you go? Oh that's right, you adopted Shockwave, then Flash, avoided Silverlight (but support it), and don't like Adobe. So you choose HTML5... built by (and the punchline) GOOGLE; The same people that developed the Android OS?? Good call Apple! After years of playing the mooch you finally put your foot down and say "Google, we want YOUR standard for the iPad & iPhone."

Oh the irony Mr. Jobs, oh the irony. 

Exclusive Edit: Not included in the AndroidDoes article is a behind-the-post comment made by site admin Christopher Dean:

"I like it. I especially like the part where you slam Apple, spit in his eye, and then tell Steve to go eat some **** food."

Posted via email from kquade's blog

#iPhone Does, but #Android's been doing

Google I/O really opened up a can of whoop-apple with their Froyo demo and Apple has taken a step into the past with their 4.0 announcement. I'm not one to use folders (with 7 home screens, why would I) but it's nice to know that they're there. The Iphone is just getting this feature? Wow. M-Dos had this feature back in 1979. Welcome to the future Apple!

So folders? So what. Fine, not that impressive. In fact, let's not even compare "red carpet" or "en route" features. Let's go back to the basics for a moment.

Foursquare is getting some attention lately with Starbucks using it as a marketing platform and Stockholm University using qr codes for check-in's. What about all the Apple fanboys? A poor bar code scanner means no momentum into these future ventures.

I say all that to say this; Google's openness is going to take Android, and ultimately the user experience, to new heights. A search engine, a phone, a tv. Soon we'll have Google cars and Android based home security systems. Imagine how closed an Apple car would be!

Who knows, iCar 4.0 may even have folders.

Posted via email from kquade's blog

My #Apple #iPad - Straight out the box [VIDEO]

I used Speed Test to test my iPad’s network speed on Wi-Fi and got 12 Mbps. The Wi-Fi iPad suports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n. The MacBook Pro, on Ethernet, got about 21 Mbps with Speedtest.net to a similar server in Denver — which is the best I ever get. My AirPort Extreme is set up for 802.11n (802.11b/g) compatibility.

42 minutes of an HD TV show uses up about 1.4 GB, so I wouldn’t want to keep an entire season of a TV show on the iPad. Instead, I have a few favorite movies and episode or two of some favorite TV shows, right now, just for experimentation and fun. I’m glad I got the 64 GB version so I’ll have plenty of room for growth.

My overall impression of the iPad is that it’s a great computer, and it’s only going to get better from there. It’s perfect for moving about the house, browsing, checking the IMDB when watching a movie, reading books, taking notes, and watching TV or a movie somewhere other than my office. The only downside I noticed was, when sitting outside on a sunny day, the screen is impossible to see outdoors. This is an indoor device.

 

Posted via web from kquade's blog

Want an Android device w/ iPhone limitations? AT&T has it!

AT&T: The most crippled Android experience

By Taylor Wimberly on Mar 08 15

| More

We try to be fair to every handset, but the are some we just can’t help but make fun of. Everyone thought Verizon was going to cripple Android, but they became friends with Google and offered the full Android experience.

AT&T is in bed with Apple and has gone to extreme measures to make sure their first Android phone, the Motorola Backflip, was under-powered and locked down. We already knew about the lack of Google search and today another limitation has surfaced.

The Backflip has no option to install applications from unknown sources (aka non-Market applications). This is important to note because every Android phone (that I know of) has included this as a default option of the Android OS.

Maybe it was done to “protect” the users, but this blocks the install of apps purchased on alternative markets and beta apps like Swype. Developers will also be unable to easily load and test their apps on the device before they release them.

Basically, AT&T is offering the same locked-in market experience that iPhone users get to enjoy put up with.

To add insult to injury, customers are also not allowed to remove the dozen or so AT&T apps that come preloaded with the device (bloatware). Android phones already struggle with limited storage space and having the carrier dictate which ones are installed on a user’s phone is a disappointment.

So to recap the AT&T Backflip:

1. Outdated Android 1.5 with Motoblur
2. No Google search (replaced by Yahoo)
3. Uninstallable AT&T bloatware apps
4. Cannot install non-market apps

Let us hope that AT&T offers a more open experience on their future devices, because this is not the Android that we know and love.

• XDA-developers

Related Posts

• AT&T removes Google search from Android in favor of Yahoo
• AT&T ready to backflip for Android
• Motorola Backflip on sale now
• All U.S. Android phones to receive Android 2.1, but some will require a wipe
• AT&T Motorola Backflip will include Google’s Android applications

Tags

• android
• AT&T
• bloatware
• crippled
• fail
• featured
• motorola
• motorola backflip
• popular

About The Author

Follow on Twitter Subscribe

Taylor Wimberly

Taylor is the founder of Android and Me. He loves playing with all kinds of gadgets, but most importantly cell phones. His other hobbies include cooking (BBQ hero!), politics, football, and watching every MMA event possible.

via androidandme.com

Posted via web from kquade's blog