Linked List: December 21, 2010

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Don Clark and Nick Wingfield, reporting for the WSJ on the same Windows-for-ARM-at-CES rumor as Bloomberg:

The company next month plans to demonstrate a new version of its widely used Windows operating system that targets low-power devices and adds support for chips based on designs from ARM Holdings PLC as well as the x86 chip technology offered by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., these people said. Microsoft will discuss the software at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, though it isn’t expected to be available for two years, they added.

Two years? Not for an all-new next-generation OS, but simply a version of Windows that runs on ARM CPUs? That must be a mistake. Right?

Bloomberg: ‘Microsoft Is Said to Announce Version of Windows for ARM Chips at CES Show’ ★

Ian King and Dina Bass, reporting for Bloomberg:

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, will announce a version of its Windows computer operating system that runs on ARM Holdings Plc technology for the first time, said two people familiar with Microsoft’s plans.

The new product will debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Microsoft’s plans are confidential. The software would be tailored for battery-powered devices, such as tablet computers and other handhelds, the people said.

The operating system would give Microsoft another way to attack the market for tablets and phones, where it’s lost ground to Apple Inc. and Google Inc. ARM chips — made by Qualcomm Inc., Texas Instruments Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. — are used in most smartphones, as well as Apple’s best-selling iPad.

So the problem is Intel, not Windows or Microsoft’s institutional lack of design taste.

FCC: We Didn’t Impose Stricter Net Neutrality Regulations on Wireless Because Android Is Open ★

FCC statement:

Further, we recognize that there have been meaningful recent moves toward openness, including the introduction of open operating systems like Android. In addition, we anticipate soon seeing the effects on the market of the openness conditions we imposed on mobile providers that operate on upper 700 MHz C-Block spectrum, which includes Verizon Wireless, one of the largest mobile wireless carriers in the U.S.

In light of these considerations, we conclude it is appropriate to take measured steps at this time to protect the openness of the Internet when accessed through mobile broadband.

WTF? As Nilay Patel writes:

[I]t doesn’t matter how open your OS is when you’re stuck with a filtered and throttled connection, and it’s a pretty huge stretch to think Android’s openness (however you want to define it) has anything to do with network access itself.

Steve Wozniak to the FCC: Keep the Internet Free ★

Woz:

We have very few government agencies that the populace views as looking out for them, the people. The FCC is one of these agencies that is still wearing a white hat. Not only is current action on Net Neutrality one of the most important times ever for the FCC, it’s probably the most momentous and watched action of any government agency in memorable times in terms of setting our perception of whether the government represents the wealthy powers or the average citizen, of whether the government is good or is bad. This decision is important far beyond the domain of the FCC itself.

Maybe the best piece I’ve read about what’s at stake.

Out on the Ice ★

Great writing and reporting by Mary Rogan for GQ:

Brian Burke isn’t just a legend of the NHL. He’s a fists-up, knock-your-teeth-out gladiator. But when his hockey-loving son came out of the closet and died soon after, he was thrust into a strange new role: advocate for gays in a macho sports culture. He’s no cheerleader — he looks like he hates every minute of it — but locker-room homophobia may have finally met its match.

Heartbreaking and heartwarming. (Via Jim Coudal.)

Clayton Morris: HP to Unveil WebOS PalmPad Tablets at CES ★

Clayton Morris, Fox News:

FoxNews.com has obtained spec sheets for HP’s forthcoming PalmPad tablet this week from a trusted source. [...] HP will introduce three models of the PalmPad at CES, with minor hardware differences distinguishing them. All three will run a new iteration of the WebOS operating system, version 2.5.1; they’re collectively a spin-off of the never-released HP Slate.

At last year’s CES, it was an HP Slate that Ballmer held up as Microsoft’s flagship new product of the year.

Update: Engadget is skeptical, both of the purported timing (CES, in just two weeks) and Morris’s claim that the device will have the same form factor as the previously announced slate.

Matt Drance on iAd and the Web ★

Matt Drance on why iAd is a web-based (rather than Cocoa-based) technology:

Why can’t the ad downloads be bundles of native code, instead of HTML/CSS/JavaScript? Isn’t native code faster? Can’t the native SDK do more than HTML5? For starters, third-party iOS apps are currently unable to load external native libraries on-the-fly. This technical restriction would have to be lifted in some fashion for native iAds to be a reality. This would be not just a huge policy reversal, but a security and stability headache as well: errant or rampant web code is generally less dangerous than errant or rampant native code. WebKit is already on every iOS device, with zero system changes. It’s not worth the trouble.

Why Net Neutrality Matters ★

Ryan Singel at Wired Epicenter, reporting on an idea presented to mobile carriers to charge money for each service you use:

The companies, Allot Communications and Openet — suppliers to large wireless companies including AT&T and Verizon — showed off a new product in a web seminar Tuesday, which included a PowerPoint presentation (1.5 MB PDF) that was sent to Wired by a trusted source.

The idea? Make it possible for your wireless provider to monitor everything you do online and charge you extra for using Facebook, Skype or Netflix. For instance, in the seventh slide of the above PowerPoint, a Vodafone user would be charged two cents per MB for using Facebook, three euros a month to use Skype and $0.50 monthly for a speed-limited version of YouTube. But traffic to Vodafone’s services would be free, allowing the mobile carrier to create video services that could undercut NetFlix on price.

Jon Gotow on Apple’s Replacing the Mac OS X Software Directory With the Mac App Store ★

You know Apple’s Mac OS X Software directory: it’s where you go when you choose “Mac OS X Software…” from the Apple menu in Mac OS X. It’s a huge driver of traffic for indie Mac developers — a prominent listing in this directory is a big deal, sales-wise. Unsurprisingly, this directory is going away when the Mac App Store launches in January. The problem for some developers is that not all software currently listed in the directory can be submitted to the new Mac App Store — the App Store’s policies are far more restrictive.

Here’s St. Clair Software’s Jon Gotow’s take:

In your letter, you say “the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps,” but that doesn’t apply to my two best-selling applications, nor to those of many other developers. The guidelines put in place for the Mac App Store disqualify Default Folder X and App Tamer from inclusion in the App Store, despite their popularity and utility. I’m left to reinvent my products and company (again) as they don’t fit Apple’s vision of what a Mac application should be. There are numerous developers in my position. We make useful — some would say essential — products that users will now have a more difficult time finding as Apple drives customers and market focus to the Mac App Store.

For better or worse, the Mac App Store is going to change the entire ecosystem for Mac software. (Via Glenn Fleishman.)

Instagram Hits One Million Users in First Ten Weeks ★

Off the top of my head, I’d say Instagram is my favorite new app of 2010.

Update: As a point of reference, it took Twitter two years to get to one million users.

Depends What You Mean By ‘Sold’, I Guess ★

Mary Jo Foley:

On December 21, in an article on its Web site for the press, Microsoft officials said that its phone partners have sold “over 1.5 million phones in the first six weeks” they were available.

Update: This number represents sales of Windows Phone 7 phones from phone makers to carriers. It is not the number of phones sold to customers by the carriers.

Obama FCC Caves on Net Neutrality ★

Tim Karr:

It’s not the FCC chairman’s job to seek consensus among the corporations that he was put into office to regulate. His duty is to protect Internet users.

Obama has been a terrible disappointment on net neutrality.

Macworld’s 2010 App Gems Awards ★

Macworld’s list of the best iOS apps from 2010. A great list.

Daniel Ellsberg Signs Deal to Write Memoir on U.S. Nuclear War Strategy ★

Dan Duray, for The New York Observer:

Tentatively titled The American Doomsday Machine, Mr. Ellsberg’s latest book concerns “the approved US nuclear strategy calculated to kill 600,000,000 people,” as Publisher’s Marketplace put it.

“One of his first jobs [at the DoD] was studying command and control of nuclear weapons — in fact he drafted the operational plan for nuclear war in 1961,” Bloomsbury Publisher and Editorial Director Peter Ginna told The Observer in an email. “As he said to me on the phone, when he saw Dr. Strangelove with a colleague, they agreed ‘It’s a documentary.’”

Matt Gemmell on Accessibility for iPhone and iPad Apps ★

Must-read for developers. Both a good high-level overview of what accessibility really means and who it helps, and a technical overview of how iOS developers can take advantage of it. iOS is simply leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in accessibility.

WSJ Investigation on iPhone and Android App Privacy ★

The WSJ:

An examination of 101 popular smartphone “apps” — games and other software applications for iPhone and Android phones — showed that 56 transmitted the phone’s unique device ID to other companies without users’ awareness or consent. Forty-seven apps transmitted the phone’s location in some way. Five sent age, gender and other personal details to outsiders.

This includes at least one iOS app, “Pumpkin Maker”, that shared location data without the prompt asking the user for permission to use their location.

Among all apps tested, the most widely shared detail was the unique ID number assigned to every phone. It is effectively a “supercookie,” says Vishal Gurbuxani, co-founder of Mobclix Inc., an exchange for mobile advertisers.

On iPhones, this number is the “UDID,” or Unique Device Identifier. Android IDs go by other names. These IDs are set by phone makers, carriers or makers of the operating system, and typically can’t be blocked or deleted.

“The great thing about mobile is you can’t clear a UDID like you can a cookie,” says Meghan O’Holleran of Traffic Marketplace, an Internet ad network that is expanding into mobile apps. “That’s how we track everything.”

Yeah, that’s just great. The bottom line: with free ad-driven apps, you’re what’s being sold.

BusyToDo 1.0 ★

BusyMac’s first iOS app:

BusyToDo is a simple, elegant To Do list manager for iOS that syncs tasks with iCal and BusyCal wirelessly through MobileMe. All you need is a MobileMe account. Syncing is automatic and happens in real-time as you make changes on your Mac or iOS device.

Nice, simple app.

Airfoil 4.0 ★

Rogue Amoeba:

Airfoil transmits any audio playing on your Mac to a host of networked audio devices, all in sync. You can stream to iPhones, iPads, or iPods Touch, to other computers, and of course to Apple TVs and AirPort Expresses. Airfoil for Mac aims to give you your audio — everywhere.

New Apple TV Sales to Top One Million This Week ★

Apple:

Apple today announced that it expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week. [...] iTunes users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.

Not bad for a hobby.

Warner Bros Responds ★

Warner Bros:

The additional footage from 2001: A Space Odyssey has always existed in the Warner vaults. When Kubrick trimmed the 17 minutes from 2001 after the NY premiere, he made it clear the shortened version was his final edit. The film is as he wanted it to be presented and preserved and Warner Home Video has no plans to expand or revise Mr. Kubrick’s vision.

Hallelujah.

Update: More good news, from Jim Coudal:

In other news, Penguin Classics has decided not to publish all the commas removed from Humboldt’s Gift by Mr. Bellow while he was originally revising the manuscript.