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Archive for the ‘Cellphones and PDA’ Category

Android is “open”, really?

August 6th, 2010 Comments off

Skype on Android and BlackBerry is exclusive to Verizon.

I totally agree with this statement from John Gruber

It is a good example of how Android is open, though. In many ways, its openness is from the perspective of the carriers. The carriers can (and do) take Android and modify the default UI appearance. They add new un-deletable system apps. And they can make exclusive deals like this one with Skype.

Like my father would say: “Power to the user”

Technologies should serve the population, not big corporation.

I would say the same about Apple and AT&T exclusivity deal. These deals should be prohibited by the FCC because users can’t use newer and better technologies if they don’t switch carriers. Sometimes it is impossible to switch (because of service area) and imagine this, as a customer, if I’m not happy with the service, I would expect that I can choose my provider. Because as a customer my only weapon againts these big corporation is my “monthly vote” but when there are no options, companies tend to let customer service get behind and get lazy.

Competition is good, competition is required.

iOS 4 on iPhone 3G not so funny…

July 23rd, 2010 Comments off

When I installed the iOS 4 on my iPhone 3G it was actually faster than previous versions. After a while though, it became unresponsive just like in this video. The title mention that it is a parody but I don’t think it is really funny when you experience it. I would have preferred Apple to just tell me that I can’t upgrade to iOS 4 because now I know all the features that I would be missing and I don’t want to downgrade either. That’s not cool. Fortunately, the iPhone 4 is coming July 30. I wanted to get a new one before experiencing that but nevertheless now I can’t pass this to my wife.

iPad… Oh God! [updated]

January 27th, 2010 Comments off

As a Mac fan, I am a bit disappointed, it looks gorgeous but there are some caveats here. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to buy this thing but I don’t need it now. I also just watched the video and it looks amazing and some of the apps are astonishing on the iPad. Here is my list of pros and cons.

Cons:

  1. The name - Let’s starts the jokes… iPad Thai!
  2. iPad Keyboard dock - I already own an Apple Bluetooth Kb… sucks to buy another crap. Apparently, it works with Bluetooth KB devices
  3. No camera -- What? I want to use Skype on this “screamer”, as Steve Jobs said.
  4. Optional 3G -- Yep, Nooo way would I pay a $130 premium and another $30 when I already have a device with a data plan.

Pros:

  1. No Flash -- I’m happy my iPhone is Flash-free
  2. Bezel -- Because we need to hold you somehow
  3. No multitasking -- Because we don’t really multi- tasks anyway. (But we need notifications, though)

Missing:

  1. Notifications -- Nobody is mentioning this anywhere… so I don’t know

MadTV -- Say no more!

ZoomPia$$e! => Une initiative de Rogers, Telus et Bell

June 15th, 2009 1 comment

Je ne sais pas si c’est une bonne nouvelle ou une nouvelle façon pour les compagnies de Télécom de faire des millions sur le dos de leur clients, mais les trois plus gros fournisseurs du Canada se donnent la main cette semaine afin d’annoncer un partenariat appellé Zoompass. Ce nouveau service qui permettra de faire des échanges monétaires entre usagers directement de leur cellulaire.

La société créé par ces trois géants se nomment EnStream LP. Apparemment, l’abonnement sera gratuit, mais des frais de 0.50$ seront chargés à chaque utilisation. Bien que nouveau sur le continent nord-américain, cette technologie est déjà utilisée à grande échelle dans le monde entier et le concept est loin d’être nouveau.

Selon le magazine IT World Canada :

Zoompass users will be able to send, request and receive money via their smart phones or using a branded MasterCard chip-and-PIN credit card. The service, which also allows users to send and receive money from their personal bank accounts, is available as an application on iPhone, BlackBerry and Java-based devices, with other mobile users able to access their accounts online via mobile browsing.

Voilà encore d’autres frais à l’horizon de notre compagnie de télécom et de nos banques… Ce sera comme les ATM du coin. Quoi de plus réjouissant dans ces moments de récession? Nos compagnies “préférés” qui s’en mettront encore plus dans les poches.

Vidéo de démarrage du Palm Pre

June 4th, 2009 Comments off

Le Palm Pre sortira en magasin le 6 juin prochain et on peut déjà lire des articles très intéressant qui lui rende hommage.

Voici le vidéo de démarrage du Pre lorsque vous l’ouvrez pour la première fois.