Jailbreaking Legal

Federal regulators lifted a cloud of uncertainty when they announced it was lawful to hack or “jailbreak” an iPhone, declaring Monday there was “no basis for copyright law to assist Apple in protecting its restrictive business model.”

Jailbreaking is hacking the phone’s OS to allow consumers to run any app on the phone they choose, including applications not authorized by Apple.

IPhone 4 Problem Confirmed

Thanks for the engineers at Consumer Reports, the widely known problem with the new Iphone 4 has been confirmed.  What is the problem you ask?

When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal.

The tests also indicate that AT&T’s network might not be the primary suspect in the iPhone 4’s much-reported signal woes.  Which is very good news for AT&T which has been beaten up lately.

Iphone 4 Incredible Sales

Apple announced today that more than 1.7 Million Iphones were sold over the last three days.  This is truely amazing despite some technical gitches and long lines.

Apple seems to be clicking on all cylinders and has become one of the biggest technology companies in the world.

The new Iphone has sold at a rate faster than all previous version and in comparison to all of Apples’ other products.

New Iphone

Apple will be rolling out the Iphone 4 on June 24, 2010.  The new Iphone 4 is a major leap over its already excellent predecessor.

The iPhone 4 is a dramatic redesign. It manages to pack a radically sharper screen; a second, front-facing camera; a larger battery; a better rear camera with flash; and a faster processor into a body that is 24% thinner, a bit narrower, and retains the same length and weight as its predecessor’s. In fact, Apple claims that the iPhone 4 is the world’s thinnest smartphone and sports the world’s highest-resolution smartphone screen.

With the front-facing camera, and clever new software called FaceTime, Apple has brought simple, high-quality video calling to mobile phones, albeit, for now, only over Wi-Fi and only among iPhone 4 owners. In multiple tests, this feature worked very well for me and is a classic example of the value of having one company do integrated hardware and software.

I really like this new phone overall.  It includes some excellent multi tasking functions.  But don’t kid yourself, its not going to replace your Blackberry that you used for work but it does everything else that you want it to do.

Top Hat Plan

Ipad International Debute

The Apple iPad made its international debut on Friday.  In Tokyo, some 1,200 people lined up to get the opportunity to purchase one/

In Australia, hundreds lined up outside on the first day of sale.  In Europe, the same could be said.  In London, the demand was strong.

This all bodes well for Apple which overtook Microsoft as the largest technology company in the world.

However, on Tuesday, Dell unveiled its Streak tablet computer, which can double as a mobile phone and will have a front-facing camera for videoconferencing. Sony said on Thursday it would launch an e-reader in Japan by the end of the year.

So for the moment, Apple might be on top of the hill but there are others coming after them.

Games In HD

If you are like me and you watch a lot of the playoff games in HD, it is very noticeable that there are games in HD and then there are games in HD.   It is truly disappointing to see a game in 720p instead of 1080i.  I know they make the argument that the camera cannot truely capture the speed of the game in 720p but I find that argument without merit.

The quality of the pictures in 1080l is superior and I have never seen a game where a 1080i image was not able to give you a clear picture and the action going on.  I think it just a bogus excused used by television station that will not paid the extra money to get a 1080i camera.

In this day and age, and especially during the playoffs, there is no excuse not to use anything but 1080i.

Watch when the Lakers play the Celtics in the NBA finals, you will see games in Boston in 720p and games in Los Angeles in 1080l.  You till me if you can tell the difference or not.

Homeless People Using Laptops

Just like everyone these days, one of the most essential things that a homeless person has these days is a laptop computer.  The laptop enables people to maintain and communicate with their friends and family.  Its not hard these days with all the free wifi locations like starbucks and etc.

As long as you have a computer you can go to any free hifi location and start surfing the web like any person with a roof over their head.  Gradually the computer is becoming one of the most essential equipment that all American have to have in tough times.

California Cities Fastest Internet

The state of California has the most cities in the top 10 for cities with the fastest internet access in the United States.  Berkley, California took the number spot with an average speed of 18.7Mbps.  The second city in California was Stanford with an average speed of 17.0 Mb).  Stanford also came in third overall.  That is quit impressive considering.

The top then cities are as follows:

Berkeley (average speed: 18.7Mbps), Chapel Hill, North Carolina (average speed: 17.5Mbps), and Stanford, California (average speed: 17.0Mbps).  Durham, North Carolina (average speed: 13.6Mbps); Ithaca, New York; Ann Arbor, Michigan; College Station, Texas; Urbana, Illinois; Cambridge, Massachusetts; University Park, Pennsylvania; and East Lansing, Michigan.

Keep Your Car Keys

When it comes time to buy a car, keep your car keys in your pocket.  Never hand them over to the dealership.  Even if they ask for it so that you can test drive their car.  If they ask for your keys, simply go somewhere else.

Asking for your car key is an attempt by the dealership to prevent you from walking away during negotiation.  Don’t hang over your must valuable bargaining tool – the power to get up and walk away if you don’t get the deal that you are looking for.  If they pressure you or do anything that you don’t like just get up and leave.

You can’t do that if they have your keys.