Linked List: September 29, 2011

Thursday, 29 September 2011

Autonomy Strikes Back 

Autonomy:

Oracle seems a little confused about the sequence of events and origins of the data it has received, something that would suggests it needs better management of and insight into the unstructured data on its internal systems. We would be delighted to help.

Popcorn.

‘The Top 6 Alternatives to the Kindle Fire’ 

Isn’t this piece from Matt Burns exactly backwards? Is there a single AOL/TechCrunch reader, even one, who is better-informed by having a writer at a big-name technology site claim that any of these tablets are worth consideration? Why would anyone buy any of these turds instead of an iPad or Kindle Fire?

Put another way: Was the purpose of this piece to help readers understand the actual implications of Amazon’s entry in the tablet market? Or to create the false impression that the tablet market is more competitive and complicated than it actually is?

Oracle Issues Statement 

This is the funniest thing you will read all day. How can you not love a huge corporation that communicates so frankly, so pugnaciously?

Don’t miss the follow-up, “Another Whopper from Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch”.

Finally 

Finally, a Safari extension that adds “Finally” to all headers on Apple.com. (Via David Chartier.)

Nice Work If You Can Get It 

Aislyn Greene, reporting for The Puget Sound Business Journal:

Microsoft Corp. will rake in $444 million in revenue in 2012 from its patent-licensing agreements with Android device makers, according to Goldman Sachs analysts.

$180 million alone from Samsung, apparently.

Authentic Jobs Campaign for Charity: Water 

To celebrate the sixth anniversary of Authentic Jobs, my friend Cameron Moll is raising money for a great cause: bringing clean water to Ethiopia. Love this story he just posted today about it.

There’s magic in having a big audience like DF’s. “Sounds like a great cause, but what difference would a few bucks from me make?” But there are tens of thousands of you reading this. If just a few hundred of you donate, say, five bucks, boom, that’s thousands of dollars.

Also, since Charity: Water is a non-profit 501(c)(3), it’s a good time to mention again Apple’s new charitable matching program.

App Store Non-Rejection of the Week 

From the customer reviews:

There aren’t any turtles in the game.

As Shaun Inman tweeted, it’s hard to believe this app ever made it through the review process, and even harder to believe it’s still there a month later.

Update: Don’t miss the developer’s website. And the background from the screenshots is ripped off from Konami’s NES classic, Contra.

Touch Is Good, but Doesn’t Preclude Buttons 

Lukas Mathis makes a good case that the Kindle Touch should still have buttons for page-turning.

Giving Them Away 

“The tablet is valued at $349.” (Via Joe Stracci.)

China Unicom Exec: ‘iPhone 5’ to Support 21 Mbps HSPA+ 

The rumor run-up has been so odd this time around.

New England Claim Chowdah 

45 out of 45 of ESPN’s baseball “experts” predicted that the Boston Red Sox — “Best Team Ever!” — would win the American League East this year.

‘Finally’ Actually Fits Here 

Sean Hollister:

Moto CEO Sanjay Jha justified the original $800 price tag by touting the tablet’s upgradability to Verizon’s speedy 4G LTE network. The upgrade, promised “shortly after launch,” then in 90 days, then summer, and at some point “no time flat,” took seven months to get here. Tomorrow, the vaporware condenses into reality, as Motorola and Verizon are finally putting that LTE module where it belongs. If you’re a Xoom 3G owner, simply visit our source link tomorrow for instructions and expect to wait six business days to get your 4G on. Alternatively, if LTE kept you from making a purchase in the first place, there’ll be a ready-made Motorola Xoom with the module already inserted for $499.99 this October 13th on a two-year agreement.

I bet there are a lot of people who’ll be in line to buy a two-year contract for a seven-month-old Xoom.

RIM to Slash Prices on PlayBook 

Paul Kunert, Channel Register:

The latest price-hacking measures have yet to reach Europe, although telco launch partner for the PlayBook Carphone Warehouse confirmed it is now giving PlayBooks away for free when bought as part of a mobile contract with its BlackBerry device. […]

“It’s a dog with fleas,” claimed one reseller. “Demand is very poor”.

Is amateur hour still over?