Perhaps the first glitch on the Windows Phone 7

Samsung Focus having microSD issues, AT&T not installing cards in-store (updated)
[Via Engadget]

The Samsung Focus‘s microSD slot has always been an odd little blip on the spec sheet, since it’s only kinda-sorta supported by Windows Phone 7, and now it looks like it’s causing more trouble than it’s worth: Paul Thurrot says AT&T’s telling employees not to install anything in the slot because of reliability issues, and that Microsoft is working on the problem. Now, we’ve had mixed experiences using the microSD slot ourselves, and we’ve been told by numerous sources that AT&T and Samsung added the feature without too much encouragement from Microsoft, which told us at MIX that expansion wouldn’t be supported by WP7 at all. We’ve also been told by reliable sources that the problem is primarily to do with microSD speed and reliability — apparently only the fastest cards will work well, and current microSD class ratings aren’t accurate or meaningful enough to be useful. We’d bet Microsoft and Samsung get together and put out a line of Focus-specific cards before this is all over — but wouldn’t it have been easier to just build in 32GB of storage from the start?

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These expandable card slots sounded like a good idea but implementation seems not so hot. And MS says that the card slots are only meant for the original equipment manufacturers and not for end users. So maybe not a good idea for the enduser at all. At least ones that are not techies.

Of course, you can only insert and remove the card if you completely wipe everything on the phone so it is not really a removable card in the first place. It sounds like something that was supposed to really only allow the OEMs to add more memory than the 8 GB mandated by MS. It certainly does not mean you can take 16 Gbytes of photos then easily exchange that card out for an empty one to store another 8 Gbytes of video.

I want my iOS 4.2 for iPad so bad

Rene Ritchie’s iOS 4.2 for iPad Walkthrough
[Via Daring Fireball]

And here’s the corresponding walkthrough for the iPhone and iPod Touch; both are based on the GM releases of iOS 4.2 from last week.

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I’ve been waiting for this release. The iPad will become my go to mobile device, with the iPhone being used for phone calls and for the times I ant a mobile device in my pocket. But probably no more putting in contacts or reading emails on my iPhone.

Maybe I’ll hold off a bit longer on upgrading to the iPhone 4.

Unbundling is on the way, while our archaic cable companies try and hold it back

Unbundle our archaic cable TV system
[Via Scripting News]

First, I don’t think we should call products like the iPhone and Droid “phones.” Their phone functionality is fading quick. This probably would be happening even if the cell networks could keep up with the growth, but these devices don’t really work as phones. I can call my mother on her land line, but a talk with Scoble, cell-to-cell is impossible. For the most part I, and many others, have given up. The devices we carry in our pockets are computers, not phones.

I’m coming to a similar realization about cable TV.

I hate the distribution technology, but I want (some of) the programming. I really want them to unbundle and let me buy only the services I want, and get the programming over TCP/IP, not through the settop box.

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I am seriously looking at this. I’m paying something like $50 a month to get access to all these movie channels. This is mainly a holdover form the days when there was not movies on demand and such so you needed access to a lot of movie channels to hope to see the movies you wanted.
But Netflix, Apple and Amazon negate that need anymore. I can watch a ton of movies anytime I want using the Internet. As well as the series that the channels produce – such as Dexter. I can save at least $50 a month by dropping the premium channels. Netflix costs less than $10. So why do I have to take the movie bundle at all?
In a few years, it may be that much of the content I watch on TV is streamed from the Internet. That is, until companies like Comcast, which own so much of the transmission lines, get rid of Net Neutrality and charge us more to stream video from Netflix simply because it is Netflix.
That is how the customer is unserved by the corporations. The proposed merger of Comcast and NBC may cost the customers an extra $2.4 billion. They will be able to go after competitors, making other cable systems pay higher licensing fees for NBC material than they themselves pay.

The best iPad Stylus is a modified dry erase marker

The Right Feel for an iPad Stylus: In general, iPad styluses follow an incorrect cognitive mapping. The vast majority of them are designed to look and feel like a pen.
[Via MacSurfer's Oped]

In general, iPad styluses follow an incorrect cognitive mapping. The vast majority of them are designed to look and feel like a pen. Why? Writing or drawing on the iPad feels nothing like using a pen or pencil. For one, the fidelity is way too low. Also, it is pretty awkward to rest your palm on the screen of the device because it throws off the capacitive detection. Writing on an iPad, to me, feels like writing on a dry erase board. Fast, simple, low fidelity. The perfect iPad stylus is one that feels like a dry erase marker.

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Pretty cool DIY way to create a nice stylus for the iPad. And it is right on the money. Think about what kind of drawing one does on a dry erase board and the feeling on an iPad is similar.

Of course, you have to make sure someone does not grab a real dry erase marker and draw all over your iPad.

The Window Phone 7 launch – a dud?

by whatcounts

Windows Phone 7 Launches in the U.S.
[Via Daring Fireball]

Josh Lowensohn and Ina Fried, reporting from San Francisco:

If Microsoft hopes to get back in the smartphone game, it had better hope that Windows Phone 7 makes a bigger impact than it appeared to be having at one AT&T store here.

As of midday Monday, the store had sold less than half of its supply of 20 devices.

Not good. (Via Shawn King.)

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When I stopped into the nearby Starbucks – which is right next to an ATT store – at 9AM yesterday I was asked if I knew what was going on there. It seems that there was a small line of people outside the ATT store before it opened.

Some people were excited. Not at the level seen with the iPhone but there were some.

However, as I watched the first hour of business, I did not see another person walk into the ATT store. There was really no flow of interested customers. There were a handful who thought it was going to be like an iPhone launch and got there early. But it was not even close, at least looking at the foot traffic they got.

A small group of fanboys lined up to be the first but that was really about it. No massive load of people clamoring for a Windows phone. No store full of excited buyers. I’m sure we will hear stuff about how successful the launch was but from my view of this one store, it was not a gangbuster release.

My workhorse bluetooth headphones may be part of Apple now

Apple acquires Bluetooth iOS headphone maker Wi-Gear – rumor
[Via AppleInsider]

Apple is rumored to have bought Wi-Gear, a third-party accessory maker that has sold wireless Bluetooth headphones and adapters for iPhones and iPods.

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Good for them, if true. I had heard they were not in business anymore but now it looks like a positive thing, not a negative.

I use their iMuffs bluetooth headphones a lot. In fact, the foam lining around the speakers is starting to fall apart. Anyone know where I can find replacements?

Let’s just hope Apple does something with this soon.