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Decline of Apple and rise (again) of Google
  • 76 Replies sorted by
  • goannagoanna

    I wouldn't want to be one of the guinea-pigs to try out this current offering on Ubuntu-on-tablet devices; the whole idea of the forthcoming Ubuntu touch OS is to provide full drivers for smart chipsets - and so a true smartphone/tablet-like experience as with Android or iOS.

    While Ubuntu itself has some big plusses as a desktop environment, I'd wait. Chances are the $399 purchasers will be getting a little slip with their package with instructions on how to download and install the upcoming Ubuntu Touch OS.

    Voiding the warranty on a brand new device has never been my favourite way to spend a week end :-(

  • goannagoanna

    One good thing we can look forward to when we have more competing mobile OS-es is they'll all have to finally lift their game.

    One example is sorting apps into categories. My android phone has a pile of unsorted apps, some of which I've forgotten what they're supposed to do - and their names and icons alone don't help much. (I've had to invent my own work-around but why should I have had to, when my device should do that for me?)

    One thing that Ubuntu (at least, the Desktop version) has always provided has been sorting apps into categories. "What? Automatically? on installation? Oh, heaven forbid, No!" ;-)

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    Now, other OSes could have done that all along but haven't. My bet is that, as soon as a newer OS comes up with features long on everybody's wish-list, then the Big Two will follow suit and give us consumers what we'd been asking for! We'll be saying, "Now, Google, was that so hard after all?"

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  • goannagoanna

    ZD-Net's comprehensive review of the (neither Apple Nor Google) Aquaris Phone

    Summary: A dual-SIM 3G smartphone running Ubuntu (for Phones), the BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition demonstrates that the OS can run well on a mid-range phone originally designed for Android. However, Canonical's platform is a work in (rapid) progress, rather than a fully formed mobile phone OS.

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    http://www.zdnet.com/product/bq-aquaris-e4-5-ubuntu-edition/

  • goannagoanna

    Up against giants Android and iOS, a few novices are trying to break through, each bringing its share of innovations and novelties. Ubuntu Touch, developed by Canonical, attemptss to revolutionize the way we use touch devices - a really good idea or just a damp squib? See what we decided after our comprehensive testing.

    (In French, use Google translate...)

    http://www.tablette-tactile.net/test/ubuntu-touch-os-165872/

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @goanna

    OS interface and price does not matter anything.

    It is SDK, developers and applications that matter.

  • BurnetRhoadesBurnetRhoades

    OS interface and price does not matter anything.

    It is SDK, developers and applications that matter.

    Agreed, once you're in an app the OS doesn't really matter at all. Any new OS+phone combo would have to have a few existing apps or it would be a no go (Waze, Instagram, Torque). After that you either like the aesthetics of the OS or not, but it virtually doesn't matter compared with the same considerations on the desktop platform.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Almost forgot one thing. You also need really huge marketing machine.

    As even Microsoft can't pull it up (and I really love Windows Phone interface), sites and reviewers just smash them or ignore. Plus apps problems are present again.

  • goannagoanna

    BQ’s Ubuntu phone is now available for anyone to buy (in the European Union)

    The phone is available from BQ for € 169.90, or about $180.

    If you didn't read the [French language] review above, then please be advised about one subtle detail mentioned which turns out to be a deal-breaker for me:

    It seems a large part of its famous slick interface just disappears when out of 3G reception!

    I'll be watching this space for the next rounds of the spiral development cycle.

    http://liliputing.com/2015/04/bqs-ubuntu-phone-is-now-available-for-anyone-to-buy-in-the-european-union.html

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    It seems a large part of its famous slick interface just disappears when out of 3G reception!

    Can I ask one question?.... FUCKING WHY?

  • goannagoanna

    Canonical Updates Mobile OS A Week After First Ubuntu Phone Launched

    • Battery life improvements
    • Screenshots no longer show the volume indicator
    • Notifications can be dismissed by swiping
    • Photos can be edited directly from the Camera photo roll
    • Fullscreen and Normal modes are now supported in Gallery photo display
    • Improved support for BT devices that require a Pin code for pairing
    • Sending/receiving documents – no longer limited to just photos and videos
    • Telegram activity on the lock screen – see your Telegram statistics on your lock screen (double tap the infographic to change the information displayed)
    • Image previews are now zoomable
    • Improved notifications support
    • Added support for message forwarding

    • Various other UI improvements and fixes

      Canonical promised that there will be another set of updates available for its OS next month.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/canonical-ubuntu-update-aquaris-e4.5,28942.html

  • goannagoanna

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    European Commission Opens Another Antitrust Case Against Google

    European Commission - Press release

    The case involves two issues: Google's comparison shopping and the Android operating system..

    ..[regarding Android]: "the EC believes Google is squeezing out competition by pre-installing its own apps and services, preventing manufacturers from modifying and developing their own versions of Android to compete with Google and forcing users into Google's own services and apps by linking it with other Google services on the mobile device."

    http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-4780_en.htm

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  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    European Commission Opens Another Antitrust Case Against Google

    This suckers won't do anything anyway. They constantly try to make impression, later they will do few hundreds meetings (financed by working EU people) and will make intermediate proposal. :-)

  • goannagoanna

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    Apple Polishes China Image With Solar Farms

    by Doug Young, Forbes Magazine 17 April 2015

    Bottom line: Apple’s new solar power initiative in China is a highly symbolic move to curry favor with local officials, and should win the company positive public relations points at very little cost.

    ..The move is actually quite masterful, as Apple is at once killing many birds with a single stone as it works to curry favor with Beijing.

    I write quite a bit about the solar energy sector, and can say with relative certainty that these new plants will be relatively inexpensive to build, probably costing less than $100 million. That’s a tiny figure for a company like Apple, which reported $75 billion in revenue and $18 billion in profits in its latest quarter..

    Apple actually uses contract manufacturers like Foxconn to make most of its products, and most of those do so in China-based factories. But a steady stream of negative reports about poor working conditions at those factories has hardly helped Apple’s image.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougyoung/2015/04/17/apple-polishes-china-image-with-solar-farms/

  • goannagoanna

    Read Apple's reply at http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201503/r1394995_19864551.pdf

  • goannagoanna

    Apple to be USA's first Trillion-Dollar Company

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    http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/investing/apple-could-be-first-american-trillion-dollar-company/index.html?iid=HP_LN

  • goannagoanna

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    How China is screwing over its poisoned factory workers

    Wired Magazine, 6th April 2015

    THEY CALLED IT “banana oil.” Long Li didn't ask what was in it. All she knew was that she was supposed to use it to clean cell phone screens, hundreds of them every hour. Fumes filled the air in the windowless room where she worked, in a three-story factory outside the southeastern China city of Dongguan....

    Long ended up in a hospital in Guangzhou with more than 30 other Fangtai Huawei workers. Doctors found they'd been exposed to n-hexane, presumably in the “banana oil.” It's an industrial solvent that causes neurological damage at just 50 parts per million.

    Apple said it found “no evidence of any link to working conditions.” Last summer, reports said that Pegatron would be a supplier of the iPhone 6..

    ..problems were particularly egregious at some independent suppliers—no safety training, no masks for workers in contact with fumes. Samsung told us that “corrective measures have already been taken”

    http://www.wired.com/2015/04/inside-chinese-factories/

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    I always ask - why people become so surprised.

    They are capitalists (as most other firms). So save every penny on anything where it is possible to save.
    If they will be punished for something specific - they will improve for some time and only in this specific place and operation.

  • goannagoanna

    imageimage http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/audiovisual/digitalcameras.aspx

  • goannagoanna

    British High Court rules on Google's Safari privacy breaches.

    Even though Google stopped snooping on Safari users after they were caught doing so, they may still have litigation coming - all to do with data kept on individuals.

    Significantly, the court has held that claims for damages under the DPA can be made even if the only type of damage claimed is for purely for ‘distress'. Previously it was thought that a person could claim such damages only if they had also suffered a financial loss.

    http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/opinion/2403552/fallout-from-googles-safari-privacy-scandal-continues

  • goannagoanna

    Samsung regains [sic] number one position in smartphone market

    [Should read "retains" number one position]

    Samsung Electronics regained the number one position in the smartphone market in the first quarter, but its market share dropped to 24 percent from 31 percent a year earlier, according to a research firm.

    Overall, smartphone shipments worldwide grew 21 percent annually to 345 million from 285 million phones in the first quarter of last year. On an annualized basis, global smartphone growth slowed to 21 percent from 33 percent, reflecting increased penetration and maturity of key markets like China, U.S., and Europe.

    http://www.itworld.com/article/2916335/samsung-regains-number-one-position-in-smartphone-market.html

  • goannagoanna

    Some Windows 10 phones can also be PCs

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    Microsoft had previously shown Continuum working on 2-in-1 tablets, allowing apps to switch from notebook to tablet mode when you detach a tablet from its keyboard dock. Now the company is also showing Continuum on phones: allowing you run Office or other Windows apps on a big screen.

    (It's not just Ubuntu phones any more)

    http://liliputing.com/2015/04/some-windows-10-phones-can-also-be-pcs-just-add-a-display-mouse-and-keyboard.html

  • goannagoanna

    Windows 10 just beat Ubuntu to the smartphone-PC convergence punch

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    Ubuntu may have beaten Windows to the idea of phone-PC convergence. But it’s something Microsoft is about to launch this year with Windows 10 phones, and in some ways, Microsoft’s vision even outshines Canonical’s.

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/2916899/windows-10-just-beat-ubuntu-to-the-smartphone-pc-convergence-punch.html

  • goannagoanna

    Firefox OS Lands In Africa With $40 Orange Klif Smartphone

    > Although we're still talking small numbers here, Firefox OS has managed to become more successful than Ubuntu Touch, another open source operating system that has tried to take on Android.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/orange-klif-firefox-os-africa,29075.html

  • goannagoanna

    Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition packs the same specs as the Android version we reviewed. They include MediaTek MT6595 chipset with octa-core CPU, 5.36” IPS display with 1920 x 1152 pixels, 2GB of RAM, and 20.7MP main camera. We spent a little quality time with the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition during MWC in Barcelona.

    Meizu began offering the MX4 Ubuntu Edition in China. The Linux-powered high-end smartphone is available in white or gold color scheme for ¥1,799 (about $290).

    http://www.gsmarena.com/meizu_mx4_ubuntu_edition_hits_the_shelves_for_1799-news-12305.php

  • goannagoanna

    Google Takes Shots At Apple With Free Music Playlists

    Google is looking to cut Apple's feet out from under them with playlists sharpened and made pointy by humans.

    In an attempt to minimize any advantage Apple might have with its new music streaming service, Google announced it will create a free tier for Google Play Music, its own streaming service. The announcement comes days before the planned launch of Apple Music. The free tier will offer playlists curated by the good folks at Songza, a music curation service Google acquired last year. It is an ad-supported play aimed at attracting new users to Google's music streaming service. By offering a free tier, Google hopes more customers will shell out the $9.99 to upgrade to its premium service.

    Apple Music has had a bumpy road leading up to its launch thus far. Taylor Swift very publicly attacked Apple for not paying artists during the free trial -- which the company has since rectified. It also has not yet signed major indie music labels like Beggars Group and A2IM to the streaming service. The company may still see success, but it is slowly losing its advantages over its music streaming adversaries.

    http://www.thestreet.com/story/13196294/1/google-takes-shots-at-apple-with-free-music-playlists.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

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