Episode 95 – Anyone Want to Sell Guru their Phone?

By | May 14, 2012
T-Mobile's G1 phone (HTC Dream), using Google'...

No studio audience this week, instead…a guest.

Show Notes

  • Special Guest – Pat Davila – His first computer was a Commodore Vic-20…Pat currently resides in Pennsylvania and runs a collection of Linux machines, as well as Android devices and MythTV setups. He is the co-host of the MythTVCast with former guest Dan Frey, and also of The Linux Link Tech Show. Pat joins us to talk about why Pulseaudio is a bad idea on Android.
  • In honor of Mother’s Day…Me, Android, and my Mom..Son makes ultimate sacrifice, shares tablet with mother. 
  • In other News
    • Wi-Fi Blocking Wallpaper may be commercially available next year. Blocks wi-fi signals, but not cell phone signals
    • In-Flight VoIP call on a smartphone gets founder of Viber escorted off plane. 
    • The Floppy Disk means Save and 14 other anachronistic icons…Radio Buttons, Clipboard, Bookmark, Address Books and Calendars, Voicemail as a Reel to Reel, Manila Folder, Handset phone icon, Magnifying Glass and Binoculars, Envelopes, Wrenches and Gears, Microphones, Polaroids, Televisions, Carbon Copy, Blueprints…
    • Wolfenstein 3-D turns 20 years old, and there is a free browser version.
    • Wi-Fi Alliance is making headway with Passpoint Initiative, which will certify hotspots and routers to handle seamless handoffs between cellular and local wi-fi.  For example, if you’re on AT&T, your phone could potentially transfer to a certified hotspot at a nearby Starbucks (which uses AT&T’s land line broadband connection to serve its Wi-Fi) without having to log in using a browser-based landing page or even an SSID/password combination. T-Mobile is the only carrier committed to Passpoint, the other carriers have indicated interest, but haven’t comitted. 
  • Platform News
    • There’s a new spammy ad system called SellARing that allows associated apps to replace the sound you hear after dialing a number with 10-second audio ads. 
    • Thai government has signed a $32.8 million deal to deploy 400,000 Android 4.0 tablets from Shenzen Scope at $81 each, with an option for 530,000 more. 
    • Are smartphones ad other personal gadgets making us mentally ill?
    • Android is Google’s weapon in the Ecosystem War. 
    • Companies may accept sturdier Android Tablet. There may be stronger interest in Android tablets due to customization possibilities for ruggedized constructions.
    • Requiring a warrant to use cell tower location data would ‘cripple’ criminal investigations, says to DOJ. 
    • The future of Cyanogenmod 7. CM9 continues, but CM7 will continue. 
    • AT&T CEO says that Google determines update schedule for phones, Google denies this.