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Trent Reznor Dissed, Parental App Guard Needed

Posted by Jared Newman on May 4, 2009 at 5:35 pm

quakenailgunammoFor as little as we know about Apple’s approval process for iPhone apps, I kind of expected the nin:access program — which allows fans of the band Nine Inch Nails to enjoy streaming music and other perks  — to pass with flying colors. Apparently I was wrong, as the latest update to the application was denied.

In a scathing, profane forum post, frontman Trent Reznor said the objectionable content resided in music from NIN’s “The Downward Spiral” album. If you’ve ever heard the tune “Closer,” you can probably imagine what lit up the censor button.

These songs could just as easily corrupt virgin ears through iTunes, except that the iTunes Store has parental controls. It’s high time the App store added similar functionality, if only so adults capable of withstanding the occasional f-bomb won’t be subject to draconian censorship.

Such a feature is on the way with the iPhone’s 3.0 operating system, and rumor has it that apps with explicit content may have a better shot at approval. iLounge reports that one developer, Makayama, heard as much when its Newspaper(s) application was blocked for including The Sun, a British paper notorious for including a naked centerfold in each edition. In a rejection notice, Apple reportedly said it “would be appropriate to resubmit your application for review once this feature is available.” (Makayama instead removed The Sun and successfully resubmitted the program.)

We’re still waiting on an official release date for the 3.0 OS, but it’s losely scheduled for this summer. In the meantime, Reznor has no plans to ditch the iPhone (though he may take nin:access to jailbreakers) because “nobody has an Android phone,” Blackberry has “inconsistent” hardware and “WinMo straight-up” um, does not meet his quality standards. (We have self-imposed parental controls here, Trent.)

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Time Again to Worry About the Internet

Posted by Jared Newman on May 4, 2009 at 2:29 pm

bandwidthLast week, The Times created a minor panic by reporting that we’re on track to run out of bandwidth by 2012, pointing to a study that blames greater demand than supply.

Unfortunately, the story is peppered with inaccuracies and sensationalizes the problem, according to one of the study’s researchers who spoke with me. Let’s start with the fact that the study by Nemertes Research isn’t “to be published later this year,” as The Times says, but rather dates to late 2008. More importantly, the claim that “cyberspace is filling up” is based on faulty assumptions about the research.

So if you picked up the story via Engadget, CrunchGear or even Broadband Reports, perhaps a bit of clarification is in order.

Continue Reading →

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War of the Firefox Extension Developers

Posted by Harry McCracken on May 4, 2009 at 2:16 pm

firefoxlgoArs Technica’s Ryan Paul has posted a good piece on an alarming story: The developers of two popular and useful Firefox extensions, NoScript and AdBlock Plus, descended into an ugly squabble that involved each one attempting to interfere with the other’s operation–and which eventually led to NoScript having secret features designed to futz around with AdBlock Plus, if it was present. In a roundabout way, the ugly situation did Firefox users a service by making clear something which many of us didn’t know: Firefox doesn’t do enough to draw boundaries between extensions that prevent them from interfering with each other. The good news is that Mozilla is reacting to the tussle by establishing guidelines for what extension behavior is and isn’t kosher. NoScript’s developer has published an apology and agreed to follow the new rules. And I, for one, will be a tad paranoid from now on when installing new extensions–especially since the recent unpleasantness involved not obscure rogue add-ons but two of the best-known Firefox enhancers on the planet.

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RIM Has a Winner with the Curve

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 4, 2009 at 10:48 am

curvecurveSorry Palm, there may be a device that can already take on the iPhone: NPD said Monday that in the first quarter, RIM’s BlackBerry Curve took the top spot in terms of smartphone sales. Half of all devices of this type sold in the quarter were RIM phones, up 15 percent.

Despite its problems, the Storm managed to take third spot, and the aging Pearl line still is holding on in fourth.

Overall, smartphones make up 23 percent of all cellular devices sold, up 6 percent from the year ago quarter. Analyst Ross Rubin said that even in the tough economy, consumers were still showing an affinity for fuller featured devices.

Apple and Palm’s share both fell 10 percent in the quarter. While Palm’s share could be expected to decline due to its product lineup issues, Apple’s fall is a bit surprising. It could be that those who want the device already have it, and that Apple must now give those on the fence or not considering the device a reason to.

Hmm.. so that’s why they are rumored to be talking with other carriers such as Verizon, or have additional iPhone models in the works? Based on this data, those reports now make a bit more sense.

Good news for T-Mobile also in this report: the G1 was the fifth highest selling device. With a new Android-based phone coming soon according to reports, T-Mobile may have a decent answer to AT&T and the iPhone for those anti-iPhone folks out there.

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Take Wired.com’s 3G Phone Speed Test

Posted by Harry McCracken on May 4, 2009 at 8:56 am

Wired Speed TestsWired.com, which published an eye-opening survey of iPhone 3G users’ experiences with data last August, is doing it all over again–but this time, it’s expanding its scope to test the 3G networks of all the major U.S. wireless carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. It’s a public service, and whatever the results are, they’ll be interesting. This article explains how to participate, which you do by running interactive tests on your smartphone.

I’m going to do just that on my iPhone–hope you do, too.

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Microsoft Seems Eager to Divorce Vista

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 4, 2009 at 8:17 am

vistalogoWasting no time, Microsoft appears set to stop sales of Vista as soon as Windows 7 ships.  Official support from the company would be provided through April 2012, however.

This would be a change from the last OS revision, where XP was sold long after Vista’s 2006 debut.

In a somewhat cryptic statement, Microsoft General Manager Richard Francis wrote in an internal e-mail that he was “not sure” if computer makers would be able to ship Vista after Win 7’s launch, PC World reports. That doesn’t make much sense, since Microsoft is in control of the OS reaching its manufacturers.

I might be reading too much into it, but it sounds to me like Microsoft is trying to carefully word a quick exit from Vista, without actually saying its dumping the OS. Everybody knows that in terms of success, Vista was just about as popular as Windows ME (we all know how well that one went over).

Add to this the fact that XP will continue to live on in netbooks until at least 2010, and it seems to further my supposition.

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Coming This Week: A Giant Kindle?

Posted by Harry McCracken on May 4, 2009 at 12:33 am

Giant Kindle[UPDATE: Amazon’s announcing something on Monday–it’s sent out invites to journalists for a press event in New York.]

The New York Times is reporting that Amazon.com is about to introduce a larger-screen version of its Kindle e-reader, tailored for magazines, newspapers, and, possibly, textbooks. If so, it would be an early entrant in what’s shaping up to be a bustling race of new e-readers that set out to save the magazine and newspaper industries. But my guess is that any Kindle variant that’s imminent isn’t going to be an industry-rescuing breakthrough.

Dozens of magazines and papers are already available on the current Kindle, and while that’s a good thing, the presentation and navigation are disappointing. You don’t get the original color layouts of the printed page or the interactivity of the Web. It’s hard to hop around between stories in anything but sequential fashion, and the Kindle’s sixteen shades of greenish gray can’t compete with the full color of the printed page.

If I had to make a call on which was the superior way to read magazine content–on the Web or in print–I’d need to think it over. But I do know that Kindle magazines, in their current form, lag behind both of those options.

A big-screen kindle that displayed magazine pages in their original layout at something close to full size would be an intriguing device, but without color, it wouldn’t be an exciting one. And there’s no way that even a large Kindle is going to show magazine pages in their traditional layout (although it’s an entertaining idea–maybe the screen could fold in half so you could fit the thing into a briefcase)?

Amazon’s not about to reveal that the E-Ink technology used in the Kindle can now do color, and my guess is that the company is unwilling to release a color-screen Kindle that can’t run for days on a battery charge. So any almost-here big Kindle likely uses the E-Ink screen, and does at least some reformatting of material. If it’s essentially the same Kindle 2 that Amazon sells today except that it crams more words onto the screen, it’ll be a relatively minor edition to the Kindle lineup. (I have a pretty long list of criticisms of the Kindle 2, but the amount of wordage per screen isn’t one of them.)

Maybe Amazon has come up with a way to make moving through issues and stories less of a plodding, front-to-back affair. If so, that would be a more significant step forward than any hardware it’s likely to announce–and I hope it would brings it to us owners of small-screen Kindles, too.

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Hey, I’m a Twit Again

Posted by Harry McCracken on May 2, 2009 at 10:40 pm

Twit LogoI’m happy to report that I’m going to be on Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech on May 3rd (hey, that’s tomorrow–Sunday!). It’ll broadcast live at 3pm PT before it becomes a podcast. I know that one of the other guests will be the Houston Chronicle’s intrepid tech editor, Dwight Silverman.

I always have a good time on the show, and always come away impressed by how many smart folks are Leo fans. (It’s an honor when they discover Technologizer, too.) Hope you’ll tune in!

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A Porcine Panic Button for Your iPhone

Posted by David Worthington on May 1, 2009 at 6:05 pm

An iPhone application called Swine Flu Tracker–not yet enables users to track confirmed cases of the flu, check health alerts, and to learn about about its symptoms.

When the Black Plagues struck Europe during the middle ages, communication was poor, and pestilence spread rapidly before anyone had an indication of where it might strike next.

The 1918 flu pandemic was better understood, but the public was still largely in the dark save for newspaper reports. Nearly a century later, technology has made it possible to track pandemics from your pocket.

Web 2.0 technologies are being leveraged in innovative ways to monitor the spread of the flue. It’s an intriguing exercise of modern messaging platforms, and in the event of a real emergency, people could turn to the Web to help themselves, and more importantly, help each another. But reality is that most places in the world are not in a state of emergency.

I am not going to discount the public health threat posed by the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus, and I deeply regret that toll it has taken on human lives. When healthy young adults are killed by their own immune response, it’s an even greater tragedy.

The overall public understands that the virus could mutate – that is why governments are taking serious measures to monitor it. Mechanisms are in place throughout the world to safeguard public health. In the United States, the Centers for Disease control even has a Twitter account (@CDCFlu) where relevant information is posted.

That said, my advise is not to install this application (assuming Apple gives its okay) unless you enjoy self abuse or want to be nominated as hypochondriac of the year. Want to track where the virus has spread? Try Google Maps.

Unless you are told otherwise by the authorities, please chill out, go outside, enjoy the weekend, and remember to wash your hands. If you think you may be ill, stay away from crowds like you should any other time that you are sick. Common sense isn’t rocket science, but you may need a rocket scientist’s salary to pay for anti-anxiety medications if you install this application.

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