Screaming along at 1Gb/sec throughput…gimme, gimme, gimme.

Sadly, these new SSD’s from Mircron Technology Inc. will be aimed at the high end market and won’t be available for some time yet (”within the next year” is the best estimate we have so far). Note; high end normally means ‘expensive’ but when you selling a device that has a throughput speed four times faster than Intel’s newest SSD, the X25-E, you can afford charge through the nose.

Joe Jeddeloh, director of the vendor’s Advanced Storage Technology Center demonstrated the technology in a video where a readout showed the SSD throughput reaching 800MB/sec. The SDD card was connected to a PCI Express slot which bypasses the SATA/SAS interfaces that are normally be used effectively limiting it to 3Gbit/sec. throughput.

Micron has stated that they are already testing the new technology with a select group but are currently looking for more testers.

According to Micron, these new SSD’s use “multiple channels” and have builtin interleaving 64 NAND chips to achieve its high throughput.

Don’t expect to see this tech in your laptop anytime soon; the initial target is, for example, high end apps that run fibre chacnnel SAN’s i.e. transactional DB’s.

Popularity: 54% [?]

It certainly looked like update 2.2 for the iPhone was going to make a lot of users happy. Sadly, that isn’t the case. It seems that happy downloaders of the much heralded update 2.2 have been stung by a series of problems including disapppering apps, failure to synch with iTunes and loss of WiFi/3G/EDGE signal. Added up, these issues alone give the iPhone 3G the value of a house brick!

There is a solution - downgrade, and fast. A procedure has been posted on the net and it goes pretty much like this;

1. Download iPhone OS 2.1 IPSW: [iPhone (first generation) | iPhone 3G]
2. Turn off your iPhone by holding down the sleep/wake button.
3. After the phone is off and hold the sleep/wake and home buttons at the same time for 10 seconds.
4. Release the sleep/wake button; continue to hold down the home button until iTunes detects the iPhone in “recovery mode.” Your iPhone is now in DFU mode.
5. Hold down the option key on a Mac or alt key on a PC and click “Restore” in iTunes.
6. Locate the IPSW file and select it.
Note, however, that they procedure may not work, and you may be forced to restore your iPhone with OS 2.2, potentially losing data in the process.

You’ll notice that I block quoted the details above so don’t try blaming me for any data loss/complete failure of your iPhone. Top tip - make sure you back up all your data before you attempt this downgrade. You may well find that you have to do a comple restore to get you iPhone/iPod working again!

“After the os 2.2 update. Safari suddenly disappeared. Syncing etc didn’t work or resolve the issue. I had to do a restore to get things back to normal.”

The two most widely reported issues were disappearing apps and loss of WiFi connectivity. Looking at the forums, it would appear that most application ‘disappearance’ were intermittent with one user commenting that Safari would ‘appear, then disappear…’ - sort of like a bunny in the magician’s hat but without the comedy value!

“I cannot connect to my wifi at home and I never had a problem in the past.”

This issue was fixed with minimal fuss - tell your iPhone to “forget” the current network config and then reattach to it. Other fixes included:

• Switch the router to WPA2
• Strip out any spaces in the WPA pass phrase
• Remove all security from your wireless router, connect and reconfigure the security
• Reinstall iTunes 7.6.1 on your computer (Mac/Windows).
• Connect your iPhone directly to your computer rather than through a hub (I’m somewhat dubious about this one)
• Turn off auto-lock On your iPhone, set it to “Never” in the General Settings and attempt to synch
• Restore the iPhone - only if you’re really desperate. Make sure you back up EVERYTHING!

Cannot sync with iTunes Several users have reported an issue in which they are unable to sync with iTunes after the iPhone OS 2.2 update.

Potential fixes for iTunes issues include:

All in all, not really a good day for Apple. Marks out of 10?

Popularity: 81% [?]

Those pesky Chinese copycats are it again - they’ve ripped off the iPhone. Sad to say, that in some ways, this little iPhone Flip actually looks better than the original Apple version. For a start it’s a 3 Mpxs camera and a 2.6 inch screen which makes it considerably better than the iPhone Flip.

Ok, I’m going a little too far - aGPS, Email, Wi-Fi etc which actually makes it pretty crap unless you’re looking for a very basic phone that looks good and only costs £65.

Your choice, if Apple doesn’t manage to close them down anytime soon.

Popularity: 64% [?]

…17 complaints! That’s right, 17 outraged viewers complained after seeing an iPhone 3G advert that suggested web pages would load in a split second. The Apple advert stated

“So what’s so great about 3G? It’s what helps you get the news, really fast. Find your way, really fast. And download pretty much anything, really fast. The new iPhone 3G. The internet, you guessed it, really fast.”

but they did add a disclaimer at the end of the advert that stated “Network performance may vary by location”. Isn’t that enough? Now I can be very cynical when want to be but this just smacks of bloody minded individuals (or G1 fanboys) needing something to moan about. If their home broadband is a touch under 8Mb do they cancel their contract? I don’t think so.

I’ve seen the ad and I know the page loading images can be deceptive but there’s a disclaimer at the bottom of the advert - can these people not read?

The ASS ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) have ruled that the advert is not to appear again in its current form.

Where’s my rose-tinted glasses?

Popularity: 52% [?]

6 of the best for Google! The search giant has owned up to breaking the rules of Apple’s iPhone SDK when it created the latest version of the Google Mobile application for the iPhone.

Apparently, Google Mobile uses undocumented APIs (application programming interfaces) in order to use the iPhone’s proximity sensor to prompt a verbal search. iPhone developers are supposed to use only the APIs that Apple publishes in their SDK when creating their ‘home-brewed’ applications - it’s written in the terms!

Although Google has put their hand up over breaking the terms of the agreement it has denied a far a more serious charge; linking to private or dynamic frameworks in the Google Mobile application. Now, I’m not a hardcore developer but even I know that merits more than a slap on the wrist. Undocumented API’s have a major failiing - the lack of documentation around means that future updates of Apple software could break as a result of an undocumented API being used.

It’s not clear if Apple knew that Google were using undocumented API’s but it’s likely that they just sort of slipped through the net. Apple has a hard time policing policing all the apps that go into the App Store so it could be a simple oversight…or it could be part of Google’s plan to take over the whole world, one mobile vendor at at time.

If Apple decides to enforce the agreements terms, Google could be forced to rewrite the Google Mobile code. Simple enough, you might think but look at it another way; Google Mobile’s proximity sensor/verbal search software works because it uses undocumented API’s. Without them, the code will probably be bloated and a long time coming - not the sort of news that current users want to hear.

There is one other solution - Google can simply buy Apple. Or Apple could build their own search engine…..hmm.

Popularity: 78% [?]

Following on the heels of Sandisk, Toshiba has announced a new SDHG card, the SD-ME016GA, which will be released in Japan in January next year. The card is due to to go on sale for about $200.

Sandisk released their 16Gb cards in September so Toshiba has a little catching up to do but the pricing looks favourable…then again, it’s a big market with plenty of space for competitors.

Toshiba also announced two SDHC cards. The SD-C16GT6 holds 16GB and will cost $200 when it hits Japanese stores in April next year. An 8GB model (SD-C08GT6) will be available in Japan for around $100 next month.

There are no dates for expected availability outside of Japan!

Popularity: 60% [?]

No, we’re not talking about a fun day at the park with tea and scones , more along the lines of millions in compensation to EMG Technology. EMG are seeking damages for for patent infringement over for “the way the iPhone navigates the Internet,” according information circulating. An interesting point to spring out of this is that EMG hasn’t put a figure on the overall amount they want from the lawsuit - a case of ’suck it and see’! Something that may perk the interest of American readers is the engagement of attorney Stanley Gibson, who won the $1.35 billion patent infringement lawsuit against Medtronic.

The patent in question covers the way web pages are reformatted onto TV’s and mobile devices which means that, if EMG win against Apple the floodgates will open for actions against just about every vendor of mobile browser! One of the most important aspects of this patent centres around the way in which touch screen devices manipulate data using and is covered by the patent “Apparatus and method of manipulating a region on a wireless device screen for viewing, zooming and scrolling internet content.” The patent was originally filed on 13th March 2006 which means any parties that may have infringed on it have had plenty of time to do their research.

Before G1 fans sit back and chuckle to themselves, be aware - this patent could be aimed at Android if the case against Apple is successful. At that point we’d see how committed Google really are when it comes to the Android OS.

I know patents are put in place to protect companies and inventions but I’d like to see a system that grants patents based on a working model rather than an idea someone whilst they ‘were sat on the toilet’!

Popularity: 57% [?]

Well, it looks like all the hype and marketing behind the T-Mobile G1 handset have paid off - HTC are saying they’ve doubled their projected number of handsets being shipped. HTC believes they’re now target to hit a million of the G1’s out of the door by the end of 2009.

Initially, estimates suggested that HTC would be shipping between 400,000 and 600,000 units but it looks like the Android fans have gone ga-ga over the new handset. Then again, it could simply be backing of Google and a huge media campaign that have driven adoption so far.

On top of G1 sales, HTC are expecting to sell three million HTC Touch Diamond handsets by the end of 2008 so it looks like a bumper year for the handset manufacturer.

Popularity: 58% [?]

The final judgement in the SCO vs Novell case is out - the wise amongst you will start selling your shares now!  The bottom line is that SCO owes Novell millions plus quite a lot of interest.

The decision, handed down by Federal district judge Kimball, dismisses SCO’s latest claims, grants declaratory relief to Novell, and sustains the court’s previous judgment that SCO owes Novell over $2.54 million (plus interest) for unjust enrichment. Another analogy could be one of strapping a firework to your ar*e but in this case SCO got the Russian Soyuz shoved right where the sun…you know the rest.

Until this decision the SCO/Novell spat had been running for about five years now with SCO originally claiming that it owned the UNIX SVRX copyrights and that incontrovertible evidence had been uncovered that the open source Linux kernel was written using a significant amount of code that was misappropriated from SVRX. Sadly for SCO, the audits of Linux source code uncovered nothing that could be conceived as copyright infringement. Novell has been delcared as the rightful owner of the SVRX copyrights.

SCO usage the threat of legal action to force cash from companies that used Linux until Novell took SCO’s claims to court in a case which Novell won forcing SCO into bankruptcy.

SCO has been ordered to pay Novell $2,547,817 plus another $918,122 in prejudgment interest and $489 per day from August 29 until November 20. Now, with SCO is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings it’s not likely that they’ll be able to find the money to pay anytime soon - what an excellent oppurtunity for Novell to acquire SCO.

Stepping into the land of the delusional; SCO’s head honcho, Darl McBride, would appear to still be adamant that Linux was built on stolen UNIX code! “There, there Darl…just rest your head on the pillow and when you wake there’ll be a few mill under the pillow courtesy of the UNIX fairies”!

Popularity: 50% [?]

And it’s a beast!

The latest update for the iPhone has been released and it’s definitely no lightweight - 246.4 Mb which is considerably larger that update 2.1 which came in at 237.8 Mb.

There’s some nice little additions to the iPhone’s capablities rolled into this update but some of the biggest gripes still haven’t been addressed (more on those later). Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ll get:

• Google Street View is rolled into Google Maps
• When you drop a pin the locations address is displayed
• Send your current location in an email (more toys to encourage users sign up to MobileMe?)
• Bugfix scheduled email collection
• Improved stability and performance of Safari - I reserve judgement!
• Podcasts can be downloaded direct to your iPhone via WiFi/3G
• A decrease in call failures/dropped-calls -this was supposedly fixed in the last update!
• Visual voicemail gets improved sound quality
• Return to home screen with a single click of a button - about time. Nokia have been doing this for year
• Turn keyboard auto-correctin on and off - at last!

On the whole, the improvements should keep most users happy but there are a few niggling points that Apple still haven’t addressed; cut & paste functionality hasn’t been included. I use the Wordpress app and constantly writing html is a real pain. There’s no MMS functions (presumably to stop you pirating all the software and media you download from iTunes!). No voice dialling either. Now, most of us can live without these missing features but if Apple wants to get ahead of the game they need to give users what they want (otherwise Android will beat them to the post).

Probably the most import feature in this update is the ability to turn auto-correction off. It’s one of the most hated components of the software; how many times have you not checked a text only to receive a reply from the recipient saying ‘???’ - auto-correct turned you lovingly crafted message into a ball of indecipherable crap!

‘Nuff said?

Popularity: 58% [?]