casa.de.geeks

Posts Tagged ‘Google’

Don’t you ever just feel like the last few weeks in technology were full of bad news and let downs? All you’re looking for is the light at the end of the tunnel. I always ask myself why the general population seems to hold people in tech related professions to a higher standard when it comes to service. I’m not saying we’re not excellent… but we’re not perfect. We make mistakes and truth be told there is not a giant magic easy button tucked away at the back of our desk drawer collecting dust waiting for the day when your priority #1, mission critical, last-minute-I-need-this-done-now, project comes along. Sometimes users request the impossible… or just the plain ridiculous, like the lady who wanted to remove the Pac Man from her Google.

Seriously though, why do other people/companies/entities get to screw up so bad and still skate on like nothing happened?

BP is still taking a big dump in the Gulf of Mexico. Progress with cleanup efforts and fixing the spewing oil leak is dragging on as if they think time itself will solve the problem.

It seems that Apple and AT&T screwed people over big time with what looks like an obvious bait and switch to me. One of Apple’s major selling points for the iPad was the ability to get an unlimited data plan through AT&T for $30 a month without a contract! Now shortly after the 3G versions are released, AT&T says they’re no longer offering unlimited data plans for the iPad or the iPhone. Even those who already signed up and will be grandfathered into an unlimited plan are forced into never skipping a payment – kind of like being on a contract, because I’m sure if you missed a month AT&T would just make you sign up for their new plans.

One final frustration of mine: T-Mobile should be ashamed of themselves! Verizon and Sprint are offering up all the awesome Android phones like they’re the ones that started this whole thing! C’Mon TMo – you offered up the first Android phone to the masses with the G1 and now your best offering is the MyTouch Slide? Where are the top-end handsets to compete with the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC Incredible or the Motorola Droid? TMo isn’t even directly selling the Nexus One but they should! They need to!

But hey, a little bird has been chirping about a big event coming soon for T-Mobile: Free phones on June 19th. If this is true, TMo could win over a lot of new customers and maybe that’s just what they need for the phone makers to consider giving TMo better handsets. I took the time to check out plans for two Android phones on Verizon’s network with unlimited data and T-Mobile still has the best priced plans. Here’s to more waiting for my dream phone.

Another example of users making me angry because they don’t bother to understand the technology they use. Apparently people are all up in arms over Google accidentally collecting data about Wi-Fi networks with their Street View cars. If you research the issue, you’ll find that payload data was only collected from unsecured networks. If you know anything at all about Wi-Fi, you know that these days securing your wireless router is so easy a caveman could do it. There’s no excuse for not doing it! In fact, if you wanted to, you could prevent your router from even broadcasting an SSID in the first place! You can’t sue somebody for invading your privacy if you are willingly broadcasting it unsecured for your whole neighborhood to see.

Do these people not see the irony? They’re suing Google for collecting data that they’re knowingly broadcasting out into open air but not a word about the fact that Google took pictures of their house! I bet these are the same kind of people that put their last names on their mail boxes for all to see.

I hope Google squashes these people. SQUASH.

Apple recently released the iPad – the most anticipated mobile device since the iPhone. However, most gadget lovers and tech heads alike will gripe about one flaw – a flaw that some believe will be fatal to the iPad. No multitasking! You can only run one application at a time on the iPad just like the iPhone and the iPod Touch. This seems to be a major part of the Apple mobile device formula and if you look at the numbers of these devices that have been sold along with other impressive stats like repeat customers and customer satisfaction, there is no denying that this is a formula that works. However, its a theory not shared by HTC which released phones such as the popular Droid and the Nexus One which run the Android OS, the product of search engine giant Google.

If you have ever used a phone with multitasking capabilities such as Windows Mobile or the Android OS, you have undoubtedly had issues with your phones system resources running out or just system lockups due to applications running in the background. Some consumers do not understand the idea of background processes and they don’t seem to be interested in learning about them or how to manage them. Can you honestly blame your average person who just wants a phone that works without the hassles of task managers and application startup options? With that said, I have to admit that my personal phone, a T-mobile G1 / HTC Dream, has had very little issues in the way of multitasking and background processes. Could it be that Google has found a way around the hurdles of multitasking and some day in the future it will be more streamlined for the average consumer? Or will Apple’s formula for mobile platform success be the victor in the end?

The Google Nexus One is by far the most appealing Android phone I’ve seen lately, however, it doesn’t have the most appealing price tag – $529 without a T-Mobile contract. And while I still enjoy my G1, its not going to last forever! I’ve dropped it more times than I can remember and what better excuse to get a new phone with the Snapdragon processor than a dead G1?

After finding out that two brand new Nexus One phones (because of course, Fox would need one too) would cost me over $1000, I’ve been on the lookout for other new Android phones coming on the market soon.

I keep coming across articles for the HTC Espresso (supposedly due to tentatively launch May 17) which all show off the awesome new UI. OK, I get it already! NEW UI. Whoop-de-da! I want to see the phone too! What are the specs? Might it have the new Snapdragon processor? If it doesn’t, I’d find it pretty difficult to still consider keeping it on my list of possible new phones.

The HTC Espresso, AKA the MyTouch Slide or MyTouch2 is also rumored to have a slide out QWERTY keyboard and also replace T-Mobile’s Sidekick. Finally, right? When I think Sidekick, I think of a brick-like phone that I’d give to my kid to play with as opposed to a real phone.

So until I see some pics or video of the actual phone, I’m putting this on on the back burner.

So I have to admit that one reason I starting thinking about this whole thing is because of the movie Did You Hear About the Morgans. Basic idea – couple is on the brink of divorce, they happen to witness a murder, get sent away to country bumpkin land under the witness protection program, hilarity ensues. My question is: What happens in this day in age when people who have been tweeting, posting, & connecting their lives away on social networks end up in the witness protection program? Read the rest of this entry »

There is definitely something to be said for Apple’s GUI hotness when everywhere you look, people want their non-Apple products to emulate Apple products. There are Mac OS skins for Windows, people install Mac OS on PCs, and now even the G1 isn’t safe from Apple’s super cool look-and-feel.

Just in case you’re curious, I like my G1 as it is.