Plus Ballmer on typing, mobile madness reworked, why you shouldn’t trust cardboard mockups, and more
Mortar batteries in front of Picquet house Light Division (LOC), c1905. Photo by The Library of Congress on Flickr. Some rights reserved
A quick burst of 12 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team
The iPad’s Killer App >> John Naughton
It isn’t an app.
How Steve Ballmer told me what to do with my iPad >> Mark Wilson
Talking to clients in London, Steve Ballmer hinted that Media Center might be in Windows-based tablets’ future: “what you’ll see over the course of the next year is us doing more and more work with our hardware partners creating hardware-software optimisations with Windows 7 and with Windows 7 Media Center [...] Media Center is big and, when people say ‘hey, we could optimise more for clients’ I think what they generally mean is ‘Big Buttons’. Big Buttons that’s, I think, a codeword for Big Buttons and Media Center is Big Buttons not Little Buttons. I’m not trying to trivialise that – it’s a real issue.”
Read the whole piece to find out what he said about Wilson’s iPad – and why he was wrong.
Is Facebook subject to breach notification laws for revealing phone numbers? >> Liminal states
An interesting question: is it enough if you’ve said it’s OK for Facebook to slurp up your mobile phone address book, which it then puts in various places on Facebook, to get around Germany privacy laws?
Facebook Gives Users A Few More Controls >> paidContent
“Notably, the company said it was releasing a new Groups product, which will let users set up a new private page, where they will be able to share information—like updates and photos—with select friends. Users will also be able to group chat and also use the list of fellow group members as an e-mail list.
“During his remarks, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the new Groups product solves a “fundamental” problem with the social network where users don’t want to post an update because it will be shared with everybody and not just with family members or a few friends.”
Can You Hear Me Now? The Truth about Cell Phones and Cancer >> Scientific American
Basically, if you understand Einstein’s explanation of the photoelectric effect, you already know why mobile phones can’t cause cancer.
Infographic: Who’s Suing Whom In The Telecoms Trade? >> Information Is Beautiful
ICO urges clarity on definition of personal data >> Pinsent Masons LLP
“A definition at the heart of the UK’s Data Protection Act (DPA) is unclear, creating legal confusion that undermines the whole law, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said. The ICO enforces the DPA, advising businesses on how to stay in line with the privacy-protecting law and investigating complaints about organisations accused of breaking it. But the ICO has told a Government consultation that the definition of ‘personal data’ on which the whole law rests is inadequate.”
The .ly domain space to be considered unsafe >> Ben Metcalfe Blog
“The domain was seized by the Libyan domain registry for reasons which seemed to be kept obscure until we escalated the issue. We eventually discovered that the domain has been seized because the content of our website, in their opinion, fell outside of Libyan Islamic/Sharia Law.”
Hmmmmm.
‘Claimed my free iPhone’ scam swamps Facebook >> Graham Cluley’s blog
“Interestingly, this latest batch of messages are say they were posted ‘via Email’. That’s the facility Facebook supplies to post status updates to your Facebook page remotely, just by sending an email to a unique address (every Facebook account has a specific email address for this purpose). Is it possible that the facility has been compromised, and scammers have found a way to update folks’ statuses just by sending an email message directly to their walls?”
From January: 10 reasons the iPad could fail catastrophically >> GamesRadar
Among reasons including “it’ll be too expensive” (this was pre-Dell Streak, pre-Galaxy Tab” was the wonderful “Although we haven’t yet had an actual hands-on with the iPad, we mocked up our own ghetto cardboard facsimile – based on the device’s exact dimensions – to get a feel for its shape (if not its heft). And while it might actually be more comfortable than the iPhone for playing games that superimpose onscreen controls, playing games that require full use of the touchscreen – particularly fast use – is going to be slow torture.” Your cardboard mockup showed that? Still, it was cheap.
Xmarks is Dead. Long Live Xmarks? >> Xmarks blog
“But first, the punch line: we’re revisiting the idea of Xmarks as a premium service. We’ve set up a Pledgebank page where you can sign up if you’re willing to pay at least $10 a year for Xmarks. No credit card is required, but please only pledge if you are genuinely willing and able to pay:
www.pledgebank.com/XmarksPremium
“This is not a scientific experiment to predict what % of our base will pay, but it’s a data point that will definitely help.”
Who’s suing who in mobile: Guardian infographic reworked >> Design Language News
Reworking of Guardian Tech’s diagram of who’s suing who in mobile. Clarification: HTC wasn’t sued by Microsoft, it licensed patents. That aside, lovely.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Two powerful cores in one A5 chip mean iPad can do twice the work at once. You’ll notice the difference when you’re surfing the web, watching movies, making FaceTime video calls, gaming, and going from app to app to app. Multitasking is smoother, apps load faster, and everything just works better.
Even with the new thinner and lighter design, iPad has the same amazing 10-hour battery life.1 That’s enough juice for one flight across the ocean, or one movie-watching all-nighter, or a week’s commute across town. The power-efficient A5 chip and iOS keep battery life from fading away, so you can get carried away.
