Hardware Forum

They've been available on the black market almost since the beginning. They'll be selling in Russia next week. And now you can get them at the Apple Store. What are they? They're unlocked iPhone 3Gs, usable on the carrier of choice, not just AT&T. Simply insert your existing SIM card …

Everyone is all ga-ga this week over the [URL="http://www.t-mobileg1.com/"]G1[/URL], the new HTC phone from T-Mobile, which is the first phone powered by Google's Android phone OS. On one level, the geek in me certainly shares the excitement. It's open source. It's Google's first entree into the phone market. I'm not …

You really get the impression this should be a bad idea. Microsoft has announced a [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10048061-56.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0"]delay to Windows Mobile 7.0[/URL]. This, you'll remember, was going to allow people to release phones to rival Apple's iPhone and, we assume, Android. The announcement comes in the wake of the Android release. Could …

The stock market is down 370 points after Monday trading and nobody is really sure where we go from here. I’ve been around Wall Street for over 20 years and I’ve never seen anxiety like this – people are scared to death and a run on investment accounts - including …

Some people, I have concluded, just have way too much time on their hands. Steve Jobs is probably not one of them, but I suspect that 'Grammar Girl' most certainly is. I also expect that this posting will fall victim to the grammatically correct squad, so have dropped a number …

Some things are just made to appeal to weirdy beardy nerds. Take the 'musical' instrument invented by the Russian nutter Leon Theremin in 1919 for example. I say musical, but anyone who has ever listened to the sounds coming from this truly bizarre combining of metal antennae and the hands …

After months of speculation, [URL="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/16/android-phone-the-g1-to-ship-mid-october/"]TechCrunch[/URL] reports that the first Android powered phone, the HTC Dream is set to be released in the US by T-Mobile on October 20th. T-Mobile did not return my calls to confirm or deny this rumor, but one thing is certain, the iPhone is no longer …

Well it is here at last, and this time it seems to be all gravy as they say. Apple has made the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3135.html"]iPhone 2.1 upgrade as promised[/URL] at the Let's Rock event available, and oh boy is it a little beauty! The full list of bug fixes and improvements, according …

Telecom stocks are emblematic of how skittish investors are over the tech sector today. Some telecom giants are taking a beating over reduced consumer demand for their products, both here in the U.S. and abroad (especially around the once-robust Pacific Rim). Here's a quick snapshot . . . AT&T Inc …

That little spike in semiconductor stocks we saw in Q1 may be coming to a screeching halt, if the new numbers we're seeing are any good. Actually, the drop in semiconductor revenues from Q1 2008 to Q2 is fairly amazing, and I don't mean that in a good way. Here's …

The other day I downloaded the latest version of iTunes and discovered the much-heralded Genius feature is a not-so subtle way to sell content on iTunes. When I heard about the Genius feature, I mistakenly thought it was like Peter Gabriel's [URL="http://byronmiller.typepad.com/byronmiller/2007/04/filter_tool_for.html"]Filter[/URL] tool, a very cool utility for iTunes, which …

So today, according to Tuesday's announcement, there will be new iPhone software available from Apple. We don't know exactly when, in the UK at 1.20 it wasn't there, but no matter - it's going to arrive. And it's going to address issues a few users have noticed, specifically poor battery …

Apple today had one of 'those' events in San Francisco. At 10am PDT, under the banner of Let's Rock, Steve Jobs made a number of important product announcements. These included a brand new version of iTunes in the shape of iTunes 8. This comes with support for HD television programmes, …

There's been no shortage of speculation about apple CEO Steven Jobs has up his sleeve for the media event he's about to give today in San Francisco at 10 am local time. There's even been a leaked [url=http://www.macrumors.com/2008/09/05/leaked-photo-of-4th-generation-ipod-nano-in-packaging/]photo[/url] of a new "taller"iPod that's also thinner and less costly. Apple today …

According to a [URL="http://gizmodo.com/5046463/apple-admits-british-man-invented-ipod-in-1979-uses-him-to-win-patent-lawsuit"]Gizmodo post[/URL] published on Sunday, a British man claims he invented the iPod (or at least a prototype of what would become a portable music player) way back in 1979, the same year the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkman"]Walkman[/URL] cassette player first went on sale in Japan. Up to that point, …

This is incredible. In the UK, police are worried that criminals can use mobile devices to [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10032823-94.html?tag=nl.e703"]wipe a corporate network[/URL] if they know what they're doing Well, OK, I understand the concept. Same as I understand the threat to internal network security when someone can walk into their workplace with …

[I]"Jerry, I have to tell you something. This is the dullest moment I've ever experienced." - George, watching laundry, in "Good News, Bad News" episode of Seinfeld. [/I] I woke up this morning to find a [URL="http://startupmeme.com/microsofts-first-seinfeldgates-ad-a-home-run-to-trash-can/"]Tweet from Startupmeme[/URL] that the first Seinfeld ad for Microsoft had hit the airwaves. …

So I'm scrolling through the features rather than the news and I come across [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10031076-93.html?tag=mncol"]this[/URL]. Software developers, apparently, are under threat from censors. Apple is refusing to put violent games onto its iTunes store and Facebook is going to refuse to distribute some applications. I'm interested mostly in the psychology …

It was widely reported today that Apple will begin selling iPhones in Russia through agreements with at least two of the country's top three carriers. Apple might be better off settling for its current black market sales figures, which [URL=http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Russian-Vendors-To-Sell-Legal-iPhone/story.xhtml?story_id=00200081FB3Y]one report[/URL] has at about 20,000 units a month. Because Apple …

Here's an interesting question: just how much data do you think your iPhone consumes in an average month? I mean, it's the kind of thing you should know the answer to, given how obsessed everyone seems to be with iPhone service plan data caps and costs. Rather surprisingly, the carrier …

Although many people get lathered up about the iPhone 3G, BlackBerry enthusiasts know that’s not the only next-generation smartphone in town. Research In Motion is set to introduce the next hot new smartphone in its product line, the BlackBerry Bold. With its enhanced higher-resolution display, 3G capabilities, and GPS, [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24950650/"]some …

The [URL="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080827/D92QIKV00.html"]massive communications failure[/URL] at a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility yesterday no doubt left plenty of businesspeople stranded at airports all across the country. There were probably thousands of people flying around for meetings, training sessions, seminars, conferences, and other detritus associated with the corporate world. The question is, …

According to the [URL="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2008-08/26/content_6972421.htm"]China Daily[/URL] newspaper the latest Internet sensation, iPhone girl, will not be fired from her factory job despite some speculation to the contrary. It all started when a young Asian woman working at a factory making iPhones inadvertently left her picture on one device after it was …

The Advertising Standards Authority is an independent body, established by the advertising industry in the UK, to self-police rules laid down within advertising codes. It has just issued an adjudication against Apple (UK) Ltd over what have been referred to as misleading advertisements for the iPhone. The [URL="http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_44891.htm"]adjudication[/URL] comes as …

File under: what was the point of that? Apple iPhone 3G users have been blighted with poor 3G reception since day one. So bad is the problem that it prompted Apple to release an iPhone software update which has had mixed results. Apple says iPhone OS 2.0.2 improved 3G communications, …

Paris Hilton is 27 years old and pretty much made her name for two things: being the heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, and starring in a home made porno flick that ended up on the Internet. OK, make that famous for one thing, being the heiress to the Hilton …

Despite India being something of an emerging technological powerhouse economy these days, the decision to launch the iPhone 3G there has to be amongst the more bizarre made by Apple of late. Heck, I would chance my arm and say that there is more chance of seeing someone really do …

Here we go again with the iPhone, Apple says it's issuing a fix without - as is Apple's habit - [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7569393.stm"]telling us what it's fixing[/URL]. Even as a satisfied user I can think of plenty. Searchable e-mail. MobileMe that really works on my iPhone (it still does nothing outside theb …

Nobody likes the [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19936/53/"]iPhone kill switch[/URL] that was recently confirmed by [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/daveyw/2008/08/11/big-brother-apple/"]Big Brother Apple[/URL] as being very much a reality. Apparently it is there for our own good, just in case something nasty gets on to the iPhone by way of a rogue App Store application. Apple can then remotely …

Get ready to rewrite your USB drivers. Again. Intel this morning released portions of an updated draft of the [URL=http://www.intel.com/technology/usb/spec.htm]Extended Host Controller Interface 3[/URL], the latest version (0.9) of the part of the USB specification that handles register-level communications between the operating system and the USB host controller. The new …

Major players in the laptop computer market go virtual with Linux. [URL="http://www.hp.com"]HP[/URL], [URL="http://www.lenovo.com"]Lenovo[/URL], and now [URL="http://www.dell.com"]Dell[/URL] offer laptops that have a Linux Mode. Linux Mode in the Dell Latitude line offers the user a minimal environment where one can surf the web, check email, and perform a few other tasks. …

I'm on vacation right now in Germany, and I thought I could watch some American TV here on my PC. But I've learned that US sites consistently block their TV shows outside the US, a practice I find more than a bit curious. I tried the network sites. I tried …

[URL="http://www.gipscorp.com"]Global IP Solutions[/URL] has one big claim to fame in that it invented the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) iLBC codec standard. OK, you might not have heard of this if you are not a card carrying geek, but you have probably benefited from the iLBC codec. This narrowband speech …

I get the feeling a lot has been written on these blog pages about the iPhone 3G and MobileMe and a lot of people are probably not all that interested. It's worth mentioning, though, that a leaked memo from Steve Jobs basically admits the MobileMe launch was [URL="http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/Aug/05/steve_jobs_mobileme_launched_too_early.html"]premature[/URL]. I have …

That didn't take long! Apple has started rolling out the first update to the iPhone 2.0 software in the shape of the mysterious iPhone 2.0.1 which iTunes told me was available when I fired it up this morning. I say mysterious with good reason: Apple isn't exactly shouting loudly from …

It’s not a new snack food and it’s not a plan to help save the Earth. The low power chips are a series of application processors and digitial signal processors announced in July by Texas Instruments that consume significantly less power than predecessors and prolong battery life of the devices …

Three questions for the week, plus a new opportunity for profit growth in the technology market . . . 1. What Will the Fed Do? - The Federal Reserve is in a fragile position, as is the economy. With the Fed scheduled to announce its next move on interest rates …

Apple has grabbed lots of headlines this week, some for things it has done, others for things done to it. Of all the major Apple products, only the iPod has escaped mention. With perhaps the potential to affect the most people is the deal announced this week with AT&T to …

[URL="http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/01/ieee-approves-faster-firewire"]The Inquirer[/URL] reports that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has formally approved a 3.2Gbps supporting Firewire specification which goes by the catchy name of IEEE 1394-2008. As well as that amazingly fast rate, IEEE 1394-2008 also supports full backwards compatibility with both S400 and S800 ports and …

By most people’s measure, it was quite a quarter for Apple, but apparently not for the geniuses on Wall Street. While Apple sold almost a million iPhones in the first week (think about that for a second) and had what [URL="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2008/tc20080721_851111.htm?link_position=link1"]BusinessWeek[/URL] called a “blowout quarter,” an off-handed remark by Apple’s …

The good news in the stock market today is the continued drop in oil prices, with a barrel of sweet, light crude dipping below $125 for the first time since June. Already, commuters are seeing that decline priced in at the pump, with a gallon of gasoline falling below $4.00 …

AT&T’s stock is up two percent today after announcing that second quarter revenues rose 30 percent – an uptick that many pundits are ascribing to its booming wireless business. Me? I’d say that, more directly, the high profile partnership with Apple and the iPhone have fueled that boom in wireless …

Sometimes the financial media should just, well, shut up. This week, using Apple’s most recent guidance statements, is good proof of that. By any measure, Apple just had one of its best quarters ever. The new Apple iPhone is a mega-hit. Consumers love the brand. Even Mac PC and iPod …

Since everyone else is speculating like mad about Apple's plans following their warning on profuts due to a [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9996169-37.html"]product transition[/URL], I thought I might as well have a go. I'm doing it with a difference, though; this isn't what I think will happen, it's what I want to happen. 1. …

Wow! That's a lot of kit being shifted by Apple. With the publication of its financial results for the fiscal 2008 third quarter ended June 28, Apple announces revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share. International sales accounted for 42 percent …

Apple's doesn't make too many missteps, but the company continues to stumble implementing its [URL=http://www.apple.com/mobileme/]MobileMe[/URL] e-mail service. Apple issued a second apology over the weekend for service outages which left users without e-mail; the first came last week for similar reasons. The service was launched on July 9 along with …

Here's some news that's sure to please the greens, while not costing much of it. A Linux-based desktop computer released today is reported to consume just two watts of power, and can save about US$35 a year in energy costs, according to company claims. The [URL=http://www.cherrypal.com/]CherryPal C100[/URL], which its namesake …

Welcome to Crystal Ball Sunday #8! Today's discussion focuses on Virtual Appliances which are small virtual machines designed for a very specific purpose. There are Virtual Appliance Email servers, VPN servers, Firewalls, Routers, Dial-in servers, DNS servers, CMS application servers, and the list goes on and on. I had this …

I laughed out loud when I saw this headline on the ars technica Web site: “[URL=http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/07/16/monkey-see-monkey-do-microsoft-launches-mobile-app-site]Monkey see, monkey do: Microsoft launches mobile app site[/URL].” It’s so typical of Microsoft in recent years to desperately emulate companies it perceives as its competitors, even at the expense of its own embarrassment. The …

One of my very first blog entries here at DaniWeb was titled “[URL=http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2341.html]Mac-Cloner Psystar: Hero or Hoax?[/URL]” Well it was either no hoax at all or Apple was the latest to get sucked in. It was revealed today that Apple on July 3 filed a [URL=http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/images/apple.pdf]law suit[/URL] in San Jose, …