Google’s Larry Page: Steve Jobs trying to re-write history
Larry Page, co-founder of search giant Google has accused Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs of attempting to re-write history, and asserted that Google did not “follow” Apple into the mobile phone market. Page is referring to comments made by Jobs in February at an Apple town hall meeting, in which he blasted Google’s “don’t be evil” mantra as “bullshit” and accused the company of trying to kill the iPhone.
In a videotaped conference in June, Jobs echoed the same comments. However, Page has told Reuters that Jobs words are a “little bit of re-writing history.”
“We had been working on Android a very long time, with the notion of producing phones that are Internet enabled and have good browsers and all that because that did not exist in the marketplace,” Page said. “I think that characterization of us entering after is not really reasonable.”
Google acquired Android Inc., a mobile startup, in 2005 and announced its Android mobile operating system in November 2007. The iPhone had debuted in January of that year. After the Android OS was announced and handsets rolled out that featured the operating system, relations between the two tech giants soured increasingly.
At Google’s annual developers conference this year, vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said that Google developed Android to avoid a “Draconian future, a future where one man, one company, one device and one carrier would be our only choice.” Behind him, a picture read, “Not a Future We Want, 1984.”
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Samsung sells one million ‘Wave’ Bada smartphones
Samsung’s first Bada smartphone, the Wave, has sold 1 million units in its first month, says the company, making it an official success.
The Wave S8500 launched globally in June.
Justin Hong, Bada OS project leader and architect, Tweeted the results this morning.
Samsung’s Wave is considered a high-end smartphone, but the price is attractive with some carriers selling it for as low as $300 without contract.
The touchscreen device has a 3.3-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1GHz processor, 5MP camera, 2GB internal memory, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. The display is said to be “incredibly” vibrant and removes all outdoor visibility issues.
Bada has the apps menu, contacts, and calling always pinned on the homescreen, and widgets are available for news, weather and more. Multi-touch is standard.
iPhone 4 jailbroken, unlocked
Last week, noted hacker Geohot posted to his blog that he had jailbroken the Apple iPhone 4 but quickly stated that he would not be releasing the tool to the public anytime soon.
Today, icons MuscleNerd and Planetbeing have posted that they have jailbroken and unlocked the iPhone 4, with the tools likely coming after Apple releases their iOS 4.0.1/4.1 update in the coming weeks.
The update should help solve the problem behind that aptly named “antennagate,” where iPhone 4 users continuously lose reception when holding the phones in their left hands, covering the antenna.
Planetbeing tweeted this morning: “Looks like I now have an unlocked iPhone 4 :)”
The hacker then posted a picture of his phone running Cydia, the jailbroken phone App Store, while connected to Bell Canada. It seems he used “code of @comex’s userland jailbreak method.”
If Apple keeps the exploits unpatched, expect the tool out when the firmware update hits.
Wal-Mart offering Kinect bundle for $200
Wal-Mart has started pre-orders on a new Microsoft Kinect bundle today, adding more question marks to the still unofficial price tag on the system.
Priced at $200, consumers get the Kinect system, a $30 Wal-Mart eGift Card, and one of the launch titles.
Those titles (Sports is pictured) are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, Dance Central, Joy Ride, Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures.
You can also add an additional game for $50-60 if you want to get more for your new bundle.
The Microsoft Store has the system priced at $150, but with a note that price is still subject to change. GameStop and Amazon have similar pricing, and similar notices.
Wal-Mart’s latest deal is the most cost-effective, especially given the discount off the game and the addition of the gift card, but we will see if the price sticks when the device launches in early November.
Sprint considering merger with T-Mobile USA?
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, talking to the Financial Times, has said today that the carrier is now actively considering deploying WiMAX and LTE for their 4G networks.
Currently, the company only offers 4G through WiMAX.
That decision is leading many to speculate that a long rumored merger between Sprint and T-Mobile USA is a possibility, given that both would use LTE for their 4G needs.
The merger makes no sense now, as T-Mobile uses GSM/UMTS for 3G while Sprint uses CDMA. Deutsche Telekom, the parent of T-Mobile has entertained offers to sell its American unit.
T-Mobile is the fourth biggest carrier in the U.S., with 34 million subscribers, while Sprint is third at 48 million. Both trail leaders Verizon and AT&T by a large margin.
When asked about a merger, Hesse said there was “logic” behind a move like that: “I don’t see a need to scale larger, but if there’s an acquisition that makes sense for us, I do want to have a balance sheet that would give me the flexibility of making good acquisitions when we see them.”
Google ‘App Inventor’ allows anyone to create Android apps
Google has launched the App Inventor this week, a tool that will given anyone the chance to create apps for Android phones.
The software tool is in beta, and Google Labs has created videos and screenshots to help new users.
“To use App Inventor, you do not need to be a developer. App Inventor requires NO programming knowledge,” says the site.
The code is written inside the software.
Additionally, the tool offers suggestions and options for app creations, like how to build apps that will link to social networking services, or a new SMS app.
The move should give Android another leg up on the Apple iOS, which requires people to have software coding skills to make apps, and then Apple has to accept the app to their App Store.
Check out the site here: http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/
Windows 7 SP1 beta now available
Microsoft has finally, officially launched the public beta of Windows 7 SP1, giving users a chance to download the service pack.
In late June, the SP1 was leaked online, and is still circulating on torrent, P2P and warez sites. Additionally, a beta of the Windows Server 2008 R2 was leaked as well.
The SP1, as stated by Microsoft, is mainly a rollup of already-released hotfixes.
Says Microsoft’s Tammi Reller: “I am quite pleased today to announce the public beta availability of service pack 1 both for Windows Server 2008R2 as well as Windows 7. [For Windows 7 ] mostly it is minor updates that are available through Windows update.”
Businesses will be the main beneficiaries of the update, as they will finally be free to upgrade their corporate systems to a fully stable Windows 7, from XP and Vista.
Netflix says online traffic is surging
Mashable is reporting today that visitors to Netflix’s site have jumped 46 percent year-over-year for the month of June.
The growth is thanks to the increasing popularity of the Watch Instantly streaming service, and Netflix’s decision to add their native service to set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and HDTVs.
Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney adds that Netflix’s explosive growth is the “fastest year-to-year growth [he] has seen in over five years.”
For the entire second quarter, Netflix’s web traffic was up 34 percent year-over-year. In the first quarter, YoY growth was 19 percent.
Netflix has added 1.7 million subscribers in the Q1, ending with 14 million customers.
Windows 7 users can downgrade to XP until 2020
Microsoft has extended the downgrade period for Windows XP until 2020, allowing owners of some Windows 7 versions to “downgrade” to the aging operating system if they choose to.
In the past, Microsoft killed off downgrade rights within months of releasing a new OS, so the new move is somewhat surprising.
Microsoft had limited 7-to-XP downgrades to six months when 7 was released, but extended the rights almost immediately after. It changed the date until July 2010, but that day has now come and gone, with Microsoft doing the lengthy extension.
The new downgrade rights are for users of Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, who can downgrade to XP Pro.
“Our business customers have told us that the removing end-user downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional could be confusing,” adds Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc.
Furthermore, downgrade rights are only available on OEM copies of Windows 7, meaning it had to have come pre-installed on your new PC.
“Going forward, businesses can continue to purchase new PCs and utilize end-user downgrade rights to Windows XP or Windows Vista until they are ready to use Windows 7,” LeBlanc concluded.
AOL completes sale of ICQ messenger
In April, AOL sold one of the pioneers of instant messaging, ICQ, to Digital Sky Technologies Limited (DST) for $187.5 million USD.
Today, AOL has completed that sale, with Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL saying the company will use the proceeds to either buy media properties or hoard the cash for emergencies.
Despite losing popularity in the United States to other services such as MSN Messenger and AIM, ICQ remains the most popular IM service in Russia and other smaller international markets.
“The acquisition of ICQ is a strategic enhancement of our business in Russia and Eastern Europe. ICQ’s long-standing brand name and its sizeable loyal customer base together represent a very attractive opportunity to further strengthen our position in the region,” added Yuri Milner, Chief Executive Officer of DST.
ICQ was created in 1996 by Mirabilis of Israel, and AOL purchased the parent company in 1998.
Reads the SEC notice: As previously announced, on April 28, 2010, AOL Inc., (the “Company”) entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Digital Sky Technologies Limited, a British Virgin Islands company (“Digital Sky”), for the sale of the Company’s ICQ operations (“ICQ”).
