Posted 11/17/2009 at 03:57:33pm

I've been using extensions in the dev build of Chrome for about a month now. They work pretty well, and yes there is an Adblock+ extension (although it doesn't work as well as the firefox one.)

Posted 10/14/2009 at 01:41:47am

From the description of the battery life I would assume this device has an eInk screen. I just couldn't see an LCD pulling that sort of life off, even if it doesn't have backlighting or color. The nice thing about eInk is that once info is on the screen, it takes no power to keep it on the screen, so basically the entire device can be off except in circumstances where a button is pressed. If it does have an eInk screen, the price is probably justified, just look at the price of any other product with this technology. You also know that it has an 8GB or so micro-SD card, so there's the additional price of that factored in. I initially scoffed that they were charging for updates, but their update process involves them sending you 2 additional micro-sd cards per year, so they're charging for the media more than the info. If you can download the large files they let you update the device yourself for free.

The device is definitely not meant for us gadget hounds, we have more than enough ways to access wikipedia already. But I could see it being useful as an always available reference for the normal person, as it's not reliant on data access or staying charged every day. That's hard to say about any other device that lets you do the same thing. 

Posted 09/30/2009 at 02:48:28am

I find it funny you thought that I didn't read the article.... I've been following this topic since before the Pre was even released. Heres the timeline of events: Palm announces Pre will support iTunes syncing - Apple doesn't say much, but does comment somewhere or another that third party devices aren't supported and may be broken by updates - Pre launches, iTunes syncing works. - iTunes 8.2.1 update comes out, breaks Pre syncing - Palm Pre 1.1 update comes out, reenables iTunes syncing by emulating Apple's vendor id - Palm complains to USB-IF that Apple may be breaking specification by blocking certain vendor id's from syncing with their software (while Palm is technically breaking USB-IF specification by bypassing these blocks) - iTunes 9.0 software is released, breaks Pre syncing again - Palm hears back from USB-IF, with them stating that Apple's implementation is allowed, but Palm's circumvention of it is suspect (which really doesn't matter, if Palm lost USB-IF certification is just means they couldn't put USB logos on their devices, but they otherwise would work fine with USB) - rumors pop up that Palm has fixed iTunes syncing once again, took them a couple man hours, as compared to about 30 minutes for the first fix - iTunes 1.2 software is released, DOES NOT have the iTunes fix, but still syncs with older versions of iTunes. As I said, the most likely reason it does not have the fix is the App Catalog timeframe, the rumors that a new fix was finsihed weren't very long before the update was released, and these things take time to get approved by the carriers. It's likely that most of webOS 1.2 was finished and going through the approval stages when they finished the fix, they just couldn't fit it in for this update. I wouldn't be surprised to see a WebOS 1.2.1 update in the next few weeks with the prominent feature being the reenabling of iTunes syncing. Even if Palm does not fix the sync for the latest software, they clearly haven't abandoned it, because webOS 1.2 still syncs with older versions of iTunes! My whole point was that the article linked makes assumptions based on incomplete information, and thus shouldn't be taken as confirmation of any plans by Palm to continue or not to continue to support iTunes sync.

Posted 09/30/2009 at 02:31:55am

I love how these ISP's are trying to depict bandwidth as a scarce resource. While it is true that at any given point, there is a finite amount of bandwidth available, it's also not something being used up. If you download a 2GB movie, that doesn't mean that there is 2GB less for everyone else to download. The only limitations on the internet are the width of the pipes and the routers that handle the bandwidth. Unlike gasoline, when you pull more demand there isn't less to go around, you just build a bigger pipe and everyone is happy. Considering how much dark fiber there is in this country, and how nearly all major ISP's profits on the internet have went UP in the last few years, the case that broadband needs to be more expensive is ridiculous. It's just a cash grab, these companies know that broadband media and VOIP is replacing their cable tv and traditional phone offerings, and they want to keep making the same amount they always have. The proper way for them to do that would be to expand bandwidth, I'd gladly pay the $100/mo most cable companies want for their "triple-play" cable/internet/phone packages for an unlimited 100mb internet connection. However, I'm not going to pay $100/mo for a 10mb connection that charges me per gigabyte. Or was it $150/mo that Time Warner was planning on charging for those who wanted such a pitiful speed with true unlimited access?

Posted 09/29/2009 at 05:28:46pm

Bad MaxPC! Bad! The article mentioned has no official support for its claims, it simply assume its conclusions. iTunes syncing still works with older versions of iTunes, they just didn't get the fix for the current version in for this release of WebOS. Palm had promised a September launch of the full App Catalog, rumor has it they were able to fix iTunes syncing, but considering how little time has passed since the newest iTunes release, it would be hard for them to get it into an update that received carrier approvals and still meet their App Catalog obligation. The change in Amazon downloading is nothing, they already announced this capability for the Pixi, and homebrewers have been able to patch it into webOS pretty much since the Pre was released, it was just a commented out bit of code preventing it from downloading over EVDO in the first place.

Posted 09/24/2009 at 07:44:50pm

The difference is that with gmail, any scanning of personal information and the serving of ads is done by google itself. No third parties have access to it, they just bid on keywords and google serves up their ads if your email contains them. With Facebook, this is an API we are talking about, a specific method for a third party application to access the data and potentially use it for nefarious purposes. Facebook applications by default already have access to a rediculous amount of personal info, the thought of them also getting to scan your email is kind of scary.

Posted 09/22/2009 at 06:48:47pm

Palm Pre has had support for gmail push since it's launch. Of course, I believe it accesses gmail using IMAP instead of some weird connection like the other smartphones and is one of the rare devices to support IMAP Idle to have standard push functionality.

Posted 09/17/2009 at 01:56:19pm

$1 per cell phone? Aren't there well upwards of 200m cell phone lines in the US. So 200m/month x 12/year, 2.4billon dollars per year. Hard to see what they would need that much money for on cell phone research, especially considering tons of research has already been done, the vast majority of which finding no impact on human health from cell phone radiation.

Posted 08/05/2009 at 07:25:56pm

I didn't realize that PCI was still being updated. I though it was pretty much dead, superceeded by PCIE like it succeeded ISA. I guess if they're going to throw 1 or 2 on a board anyway for people with legacy equipment, they could stand to be faster, but wont updating the bus just impede the introduction of more PCIE equipment? PCI uses a parallel bus which is inferior in several ways to the serial bus used in PCIE, most interfaces in the PC have moved to serial busses because of the issues with clocking a parallel bus past a certain point. I don't know why they would want to keep moving on this old pardigm.

Posted 08/05/2009 at 07:25:53pm

I didn't realize that PCI was still being updated. I though it was pretty much dead, superceeded by PCIE like it succeeded ISA. I guess if they're going to throw 1 or 2 on a board anyway for people with legacy equipment, they could stand to be faster, but wont updating the bus just impede the introduction of more PCIE equipment? PCI uses a parallel bus which is inferior in several ways to the serial bus used in PCIE, most interfaces in the PC have moved to serial busses because of the issues with clocking a parallel bus past a certain point. I don't know why they would want to keep moving on this old pardigm.