Jan 14
If Amtrak seriously thinks that the inclusion of free Wi-Fi is enough to make people pay for an overpriced train ride that isn’t really that much faster, then they’re really in more trouble than we all know.
Jan 14
Best earbuds for small ears
Posted in: Today's ChiliCNET editors round up a selection of in-ear headphones that should fit small-eared users well. Includes models from Klipsch, Radius, JVC, and more.
Jan 14
iBuyPower Battalion Touch now available to order, starting at $999
Posted in: multitouch, Today's Chili
iBuyPower announced its new Battalion Touch gaming laptop at the beginning of CES last week, but it’s just now made the multitouch rig available to order, and finally revealed a price. As expected, there are a whole range of configuration options (including a $150 “Flame” add-on), but if you just want to get your hands on the first multitouch gaming laptop, you can snag a system for $999 that includes Core 2 Duo Mobile P8700 processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics. Not quite enough for you? Then hit up the link below to check out some of the other upgrade options that can fully triple the base price.
iBuyPower Battalion Touch now available to order, starting at $999 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Jan 14
Tom and Rafe discuss the gear they used to cover the consumer electronics show and how well it fared.
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Originally posted at The Real Deal Podcast
Jan 14
Reports are suggesting that those who go to see the movie “Avatar” are subject to deep-seated feelings of misery afterward. Is the idea of utopia making us unhappy with our real lives? pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10435399-71.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Technically Incorrect/a/p
Jan 14
Motorola pauses split to mull options
Posted in: moto, motorola, sale, Today's Chili
Amazing what a little success will do to a company, isn’t it? The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Motorola has put the brakes on its search for a buyer for its Home and Networks Mobility division that’s responsible for the company’s set-top boxes and network infrastructure equipment. It’s easy to see why this might be a good time for Moto to pause and take stock of its situation — while no one’s even close to calling the Mobile Devices division’s turnaround complete, the focus on Android appears to have injected fresh interest (and commercial success) in a lineup plagued with countless duds just a year ago. Apparently the company is also discouraged by the fact that suitors have lowballed Motorola’s expected sale price by a billion or two, but make no mistake, the split isn’t off altogether — the executive board is expected to convene in the next few days to figure this all out before the next round of bidding is due in February. Stay tuned — by the end of the year, we could realistically be looking at one, two, or even three Motos depending on how this goes down.
Motorola pauses split to mull options originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jan 14
Malware Sneaks Into Android Market
Posted in: Android, apps, developers, Google, os, Phones, Today's Chili
Hidden among the barcode readers, music players and games in the marketplace for Android software may be apps that could steal your online banking credentials or infect your phone.
Google removed about 1 percent of the apps posted to the Android Market last year, according to a 2009 filing Google made to the FTC (.pdf). While most of those apps were removed because of user complaints about adult content or copyright violations, two apps attempted to gain access to users’ financial information, according to InformationWeek.
“I am surprised it is that much,” says Artem Petakov, co-founder and CTO of WorkSmart Labs, which offers the Cardiotrainer app, referring to the number of apps removed. “I assumed the user reporting and flagging was working better than that.”
The possibility of malicious apps in the Android Market has some developers wondering if Google needs to police the marketplace better. It has also raised questions about the impact of these security holes on consumer confidence and app marketing by developers.
Google launched the free, open source Android OS with the T-Mobile G1 phone in October 2008. Unlike Apple, which tightly controls the submission and the review process for its App Store, Google has taken a much more open approach with the Android Market. Developers don’t have to wait for Google’s approval to get an app into the store. Instead, the search giant and Android creator is counting on users flagging suspicious or malicious apps.
Last month, two credit unions posted a warning to their customers about a rogue app that uses phishing techniques to gain access to a user’s banking credentials. Once Google was notified, it moved quickly to remove the app along with about 50 others written by the hacker.
Android Market’s malware-related challenges are not surprising, says Patrick Mork, vice-president of marketing for GetJar, a company that has a catalog of 60,000 apps and runs its own app stores for phones.
“Whenever you have an app store, you always have a challenge with people putting inappropriate content or not following guidelines,” says Mork. “It’s part of the trade, what it takes to run a retail operation.”
What Google needs is better monitoring systems and a greater emphasis on ensuring a vibrant yet safe marketplace.
“The most immediate thing they could do is to tighten up their content policing mechanisms,” says Mork. “They could add more staff to review apps in greater depth.”
Google declined to disclose how many employees it has policing the Android Market.
Android OS could make changes to its user interface to educate consumers who are downloading apps as to the kind of permissions the app has, says Petakov.
Google has a strong interest in keeping the Android Market clean and free. If consumers are spooked or worried about safety of the apps from the Android Market, it could lead to fewer app downloads. That in turn could eat away at developer support for the fledgling operating system.
“Running an operating system and running a retail store front are two different things,” says Mork. “Consumer confidence is very important in the latter.”
Still, the developers that Wired.com spoke to were clear that Android’s open model needs to continue.
“We have benefited so much from the instant posting of our app,” says Petakov. WorkSmart Labs releases a version of their app every two weeks. “I prefer this over the iPhone model.”
See Also:
- Android Welcomes App Store’s Rejects With Arms Wide Open
- For the iPhone’s App Store, Quantity Really Does Matter
- Android’s Rapid Growth Has Some Developers Worried
Photo: p_kirn/Flickr
Jan 14
Toshiba updates VARDIA line of DVRs with Blu-ray, VHS… wait, what?
Posted in: blu-ray, dvr, Japan, Today's Chili, Toshiba
Toshiba’s showing it has moved on from the horrors of the format war, today announcing Three Non-HD DVD Recorders and a few other Japan only Blu-ray products. The top of the line D-BW1005K DVR connects with the future via a 1TB HDD, several tuners and the aforementioned disc burning capability but also gives a nod to the past and our old copies of Days of Thunder, A History of Violence and The Young Teacher thanks to its included VHS deck. Ditching the tape player, 1TB HDD or recording capability saves a few yen, while all-in-one fans can opt for the R1BDP series of REGZA LCDs, an offshoot of the R9000 line in 32- and 26-inch sizes with Blu-ray burning drives tucked in behind just like Sharp & Mitsubishi’s HDTVs. All are due over the next few months, check Impress for the prices and dates, but we’d wait to see what kind of Blu-ray upgrade is heading the Cell TV’s way before buying, even with the potential return of sweet, sweet VHS to our lives (it’s amazing how a few years of nostalgia has made us forget all those worn out rentals, poor quality and the need for something called a “rewinder.”)
Toshiba updates VARDIA line of DVRs with Blu-ray, VHS… wait, what? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jan 14
We’ve been unable to sync Yahoo Mail with our Nexus One. What about you? pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-10435368-251.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Android Atlas/a/p
Jan 14
CES: Klipsch dies, Jasmine cries
Posted in: Today's ChiliCNET editor Jasmine France gets to experience first hand just how it feels when one’s headphones break mid-use. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-10435400-49.html” class=”origPostedBlog”MP3 Insider/a/p
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