All posts by Dexter Johnson

Technology, style, fitness and health. http://dexjohnspc.com , http://topnotchmalestyletips.com and listen to the Whaddup Tech Podcast http://bit.ly/WhaddupTech
Mobile Operating Systems, Technology

Apple and textbooks; Why?

Apple wants to get into yet another market.  Is anyone surprised?  By now any technologist should come to grips with the reality that Apple wants to take over your digital lives.  Will this dream become a reality?  Doubt it; especially as long as you have Android defeating them in the mobile sector and Amazon defeating them with the Kindle.

However, Apple has a tendency of making whatever they do look really good.  Until now.  Apple has released iBooks2, which will allow users to download and interact with books on iPad devices.

There are several reasons to why this may not be a good move for Apple, Inc.:

  • The user has to have an iPad, which might not bode well for a 7 year old elementary school child with no income
  • The iPad devices, while excellent for retrieving cloud-based data, do not fare too well in direct sunlight; limiting the overall time and place settings where the reading of these digital books can take place
  • iBooks Author app is a complete scam that locks publishers into an agreement with Apple that cannot be reversed (once an iBook is submitted it becomes property of Apple Inc. regardless of whether or not it is approved)

Though, there are reasons why it is not a good move for this company; a common fact about technological entities is that they usually force users into accepting certain traits about products without too much backlash; however, when it does occur, it is severe.

Bottom line:  Stick with Amazon, these early signs do not bode well for the iBooks2 platform.

Technology

SOPA and PIPA…No more; For now.

SOPA, the bill that threatened to shatter DNS and break the internet as we know it has been halted until greater consensus can be made.  Some might think that it had something to do with the large blackout that was in protest to the bill on the web; however, when analyzed the bill was poor to begin with.  So, did SOPA ever have a chance?

No.

SOPA and PIPA are NOT dead though, they are just dead in their current state.  In order for the bill to actually not shatter the internet it would need to be revised by people that KNOW the internet.  Not a suite full of elder congressmen.  Will the people that know the net best be summoned to Washington, probably not.  I do not see a bill like this passing for the foreseeable future, primarily because it will not settle anything without breaking an infrastructure as we know it.

Over 75,000 websites were blacked out on Wednesday, including Wikipedia and Google.  In addition, 4.5 million people (including myself) signed the online petition.

Bottom line:  It is good to see Washington listen to the people that it is supposed to serve and protect.  Just remember you can protect copyright holders; but it is unfair to potentially damage the structure of the internet to save a dying industry that is hungry for every dollar it can get it’s hands on.  All content is moving towards the web; there is nothing that the government, MPAA, or RIAA can do except adapt to the shift in times.

 

Mobile Operating Systems, Technology

CyanogenMod creator should work for Google

Steve Kondik, creator of CyanogenMod custom Android ROM, recently revealed that his third party tweak of Google’s Android has reached over 1 million users.  This is certainly remarkable for the Android community, primarily because CyanogenMod certainly releases Android to users without bloatware and typically tries to keep popular devices up to date with the latest version of the OS.

The way that Kondik manipulates the OS to run smooth and clean the way a true Android purist loves is unbelievable; if only all Android phones could be as streamlined.  For example, the manufacturers could load few applications that were specific; yet let Kondik refine the experience to cater to the user and not cater to the carrier getting money from them.

Bottom line:  Google, hire this man.

Technology

Tech enthusiasts rejoice; CES 2012 Highlights

The Consumer Electronics Show for the year of 2012 has landed in Las Vegas, Nevada and cameras are flashing, videos are being posted, and blogs are being written.  Why?  This show is where all of the biggest manufacturers of your favorite technological gadgets gather to showcase their latest goodies.  Expansive coverage is available Here.

Set to be released are a slew of new Android tablets, smartphones, and large smart web-enabled TVs, which will likely include web services such as: Netflix, YouTube, HuluPlus etc.

More coverage available as it happens, there will be day by day breakdowns of the largest events.

Monday (Press day)– a day of smartphones, tablets, and HUGE televisons

  • Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, is promising to deliver extended battery life that is far superior to the competition, Motorola states that it has 21 hour talk time
  • HTC Titan II, is a WP7 device for AT&T featuring (first 4G LTE WP7 device) featuring a 4.7 inch WVGA Super-LCD screen and 16 MP camera
  • Motorola Droid 4, featuring 4G LTE on Verizon and a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
  • Sony released 13 new digital camcorders

Tuesday — MORE smartphones and Ultrabooks!

  • Samsung Galaxy Note, the device we have heard about for a long time is finally coming to AT&T (only carrier mentioned for the moment) with a large 5.3 inch display and a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor
  • New ultrabooks from Intel; yet, they did not reveal the specs (taking the route that as long as the consumer can accomplish their tasks on the machines, specs do not matter)
  • Acer Iconia Tab A510, featuring a Quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Wednesday

  • Disappointment for Sharp; presenter left on stage speaking without a crowd; no passersby seemed interested in Sharps new tv
  • Magisto, a cloud based video editor for iOS devices does it all, from volume leveling to automatically cutting out parts that do not seem important Learn more

Mobile Operating Systems, Technology

Android wants less fragmentation; NOW

With the implementation of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) we have seen the most polished version of Android yet.  The UI gorgeous and the speed and stability of the system is clearly unmatched by any of the previous versions.  However, Google has gotten fed up with phone manufacturers debasing the Android experience by putting their own theme on top of the OS and not giving the consumer an option to revert back to the stock UI.

Those times are gone.

Android has been plagued by fragmentation every since Google started distributing it.  This is certainly an excellent business move that will help Google and ultimately help the entire community.  How?  The hundreds of thousands of app developers will know that the UI that they build and test their apps on will be available to those that purchase Android devices.  This comes as exciting news because when Motorola, Samsung, HTC, and others throw their custom UIs atop stock Android it takes away from what Google meant to be there.  On the other hand, this does not mean that manufacturers can no longer build a theme to replace Android 4.0; yet the device must include the default theme, Holo.  Google stated, “If the device has Android Market it will have the Holo themes as they were originally designed.”  Read the full post from the Android Developers Blog Here.

Bottom line:  Google has wizened up and this move will certainly make Android more visible as a large proponent of the smartphone market; rather than looking and feeling so different on every device that you pick up.