Hey Idiot, Rotate Your Phone

When I am Earth Overlord, smartphones will deliver an electric shock if you try to record video in portrait orientation.

Backdoor Scam

Why is it that every time the government tries to convince me that they need to be able to bypass the security on smart phones to protect me from terrorists and pedophiles, I feel like they're trying to sell me an extended warranty for a $59 blu-ray player.

iPhone 6 Impressions

The larger screen is nice, but not without its disadvantages. When compared to the iPhone 5, I find it much more difficult to use the phone one handed, particularly when typing. For me it’s an acceptable tradeoff but I’d guess there are many who’d prefer a smaller phone instead. It seems odd that Apple would eliminate one of Android’s competitive advantages (larger screens) and replace it with another (smaller screens). If you want a smaller iPhone, your only option now is to buy last year’s models: the 5s or the 5c. Perhaps next year Apple will also offer an iPhone 6s mini so that you can have both a smaller phone and the newest technology.

This is the first iOS device I've had with Touch ID and it’s sweet. It doesn’t seem like it would be that big of a deal, but being able to unlock your phone with your fingerprint is really convenient. You can register multiple fingerprints: adding both thumbs and my right index finger worked well for me. You can also use it to silence alarms and approve app store purchases.

I haven’t had a chance yet to use Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payment technology that uses Touch ID, but I’ll be giving it a try in the next couple of weeks when my credit card issuer begins support for it. There’s been a bit of a kerfuffle in the last week as many retailers have disabled all NFC mobile payments (which includes both Apple Pay and Google Wallet) in response to consumers trying to pay using their iPhones.

It turns out these retailers (including CVS and Rite-Aid) want to push their own mobile payment technology called CurrentC—which has yet to be fully released—but it’s already dead on arrival. Apparently there’s one thing that iOS and Android users agree on: only an idiot would use CurrentC.

The CurrentC apps on iTunes and Google Play are invite-only, but they already have thousands of one star reviews (and pretty much only one star reviews). It turns out that people are not very interested in giving up their social security, driver’s license, and bank account numbers just so the merchants can track their spending habits and save on credit card transaction fees. Go figure.

Grandeur is the Best Form of Delusion

Thanks, #Apple ;) pic.twitter.com/x4w3r8Ghcy

— Nokia UK (@nokia_uk) September 10, 2013

So Apple surveyed the entire mobile landscape and decided after careful consideration to imitate Nokia phone designs. That’s odd. Usually companies try to copy, you know, their successful competitors, not the ones on the brink of irrelevancy. Given that Apple provides color choices for their other devices (like the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod touch), isn’t it a bit less self-important to assume that they eventually would do this for the iPhone as well.

The Walls Came Down

Microsoft CEO to retire within the next 12 months:

Microsoft Corp. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months, upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most. 

Coincidental timing or the inability to recognize and respond to disruptive innovation?



The Walls Came Down by The Call:

They stood there laughing
They’re not laughing anymore
The walls came down