John Haro’s Blahg

posts from a technologist and ne'er-do-well
 

AT&T to launch MMS on Friday - The End Is Nigh

So this Friday is when AT&T flips the switch on MMS for the iPhone.  If you think AT&T is bad now... you just wait.

Rumor is their limited testing has not gone to well and they may be quaking in their telephone poll climbing boots. http://www.macrumors.com/2009/09/23/atandt-nervous-about-upcoming-iphone-mms-launch/

"AT&T and its MMS partners are already seeing "record traffic during peak hours of the night" with just the users selected for testing.


That early testing has been a little rocky, with AT&T seeing a fairly significant test outage yesterday that has them rushing to beef up their MMSC messaging servers. Estimates among those working on the project are that traffic on AT&T's wireless network will be about 40% higher all day on Friday as iPhone users fire pictures and video at one another."

I for one plan to send everyone I know a video of my cat as soon as they turn it on.

Filed under  //   technology  
Posted September 23, 2009
// 0 Comments
 

Mr. Jobs - Does General Purpose mean Tablet?

“I’m sure there will always be dedicated devices, and they may have a few advantages in doing just one thing,” he said. “But I think the general-purpose devices will win the day. Because I think people just probably aren’t willing to pay for a dedicated device.”

He said that Apple doesn’t see e-books as a big market at this point, and pointed out that Amazon.com, for example, doesn’t ever say how many Kindles it sells. “Usually, if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody.”

via bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Maybe I'm reading between the lines a bit here - but Job's recent pot-shot at Amazon's Kindle makes me think that Steve has been thinking a lot about his top-secret new tablet-like device that may or may never be released and why it would be a superior reader to a Kindle.
I do love my Kindle, mainly because its easy on the eyes and i only charge it ever couple of weeks. So in that way, its a great digital replacement for *most* of the books i read. I still end up buying big old heavy computer books because reading them on an Kindle sucks and I'm not paying $450 for the huge Kindle DX.
If (or when) Apple releases a tablet computer, I'm guessing it will have some functionality that makes it a very good reader (probably not 2 weeks battery life). If so, I'll still use the kindle to read books, but I'll very much enjoy going digital for all my 10lb tech books.

Filed under  //   Apple   technology  
Posted September 18, 2009
// 3 Comments
 

Joe Hewitt nails Apple's App Store failure

Having said that, I have only one major complaint with the App Store, and I can state it quite simply: the review process needs to be eliminated completely.
via joehewitt.com

Joe's post is concise and cuts through all the crap and hits the nail right on the head. I'll add that Apple's challenge was: in order to break into a industry that the analysts said was closed to newcomers and dominated by RIM, Nokia, and others, they had to design an amazing product and then sign devilish pacts with ATT and other large carriers to launch them in a way they could be successful. But heres the thing: the success of the iphone and the sea change that came with it, really paves the way and points to the fact that carriers are losing their grip on the handset manufacturers. Apple, Google, RIM (maybe even Microsoft... don't laugh, they made the Xbox after all) are making the computers of the near future and they fit in your pocket. Carriers are gong to fight, but in the end they are going to end up as wireless bandwidth providers, as they should be.
So - keep the app store, dump the review process. Google's app store far superior (if not as successful) in that way.

Filed under  //   technology  
Posted August 26, 2009
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Engadget: Microsoft sucks at Photoshop

via engadget.com

The race swap is really bad, but its also kinda funny that they changed the dude's Mac to not show the Apple logo.  

Filed under  //   technology  
Posted August 26, 2009
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When not to release

But development has come in fits and starts. Mr. Jobs killed the project twice in recent years, the first time because the battery life was too short, and the second time because there was insufficient memory, said one of the people familiar with the matter.
via macrumors.com

Knowing when to apply the brakes is probably as important as knowing when to step on the gas.

Filed under  //   software development   technology  
Posted August 24, 2009
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We're trying to tell the strangest science story of modern times!

via kickstarter.com

I've pledged to back this project - I saw their documentary Atom Smashers and it was great. This stands to be even more fascinating.

Filed under  //   technology  
Posted August 19, 2009
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How to Control Your Privacy on Facebook

I often spend time helping friends lock down their Facebook profiles, by explaining how to group friends and create and control who can see those pictures I took of you drunk running through the Taco Bell parking lot looking for your pants. I've often thought I should write up a web page, but like any good idea on the internets, its already been done, and probably a bit better...

So, check out this easy to follow guide from Ars Technica and don't come crying to me when I tag that picture of you flipping off your boss behind her back.

john

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/meshing-social-networking-and-privacy-on-facebook.ars

Filed under  //   social media   technology  
Posted August 18, 2009
// 0 Comments
 

Analyst: Apple to Sell 80+ Million iPhones in 2012

In an extensive research report on the smartphone industry released this morning, RBC Capital Markets reveals a "new world order" in which smartphones embracing the convergence of communication, computing, and content are becoming the "next wave" of computing. Based on this evidence, RBC sees smartphones, led by Apple, Research in Motion and Palm, taking a larger share of mobile phone sales than previously predicted, and even capturing users, revenue and market share from other markets such as the PC, TV, media player, digital camera, gaming, and navigation markets previously considered discrete market segments
via macrumors.com

convergence... its a hell of a thing

Filed under  //   technology  
Posted August 18, 2009
// 0 Comments