Hardware

With enough effort Linux can run anything, a PowerPC based Mac, a 486, an iPod, a dead badger. Basically Linux is the whore of kernals and will hookup with any particular hardware if you only buy it a few beers. So it shouldn’t be surprising that Linux can now run your iPhone. Face it, as much as you love the thing and think it has a personality it is just a clever conglomeration of silicon chips, radios and glass. Once you say chips you’re saying Linux so, really, don’t be surprised. Everything under control? Check out the video:

iPhone Linux Demonstration Video from planetbeing on Vimeo.

After that display it is easy to guess what you’re thinking: How can I get Linux running on my iPhone? Well, you’ll need to hook up with the iPhone Dev Team. Those guys are pretty awesome.

Wait, I read the situation wrong? You’re not really interested in getting your iPhone running Linux? You’re just worried that this will be the death of the… more...

Apple has moved 12 million + iPhones since the introduction of the do everything device. That is a fantastic number, there is no doubt that the iPhone is a runaway hit. But there are other over performing phones out there, other phones that have the ‘real” internet that have exceeded sales expectations.

The most recent one is the Storm. RIM has been making great stuff fro a long time but the storm, despite some reviews, is selling much better than anyone imagined. First there were the lines. If you got to a Verizon store a little late on the release date they would tell you to order it on the net and you’d have it in six or seven days. If you waited a day the website changed from six or seven days to an estimated ship date of 12/15. Obviously RIM was unprepared for the demand.

But RIM and Apple aren’t the only game in town. Turns out that HTC and Google have an entry in this horse race: The G1 available only from T-Mobile.

So you’ve got the carriers covered. If you’re an AT&T type person you’ve got the iPhone. If you use Verizon you get a Storm.… more...

Thanksgiving is coming up rather quickly. Then there is one of the biggest days of the year - Black Friday. Thankfully there are going to be all sorts of great deals, but how about a great deal on Thanksgiving day from Proporta?

Proporta carries some wonderful iPhone accessories and they are offering a great 15% off of all Proporta branded hardware! Like many, I plan on doing most my shopping online, so I will definitely take advantage of this offer.

If you want to save %15 off of all Proporta branded hardware, just enter the promotional code TURKEY at the cart page to receive your discount.

Happy Turkey Day!

*Note: This promotion applies to orders placed to US and Canada only and is valid on Proporta branded hardware products ordered on 11/27/2008

Hadley Stern is miffed. He’s taking a look at what Apple has done in the past and with the iPhone and seen the copycats. What, exactly, is a Blackberry Storm if not a direct rip off of the iPhone? And you know RIM won’t give Apple a kiss after that screwjob so why not some cash?

Hadley’s not exactly that upfront about it but that is the take away message. All the companies coming out with touchscreen phones are really coming out with iPhone knockoffs and that doesn’t seem fair to the company who went through all the hard work of getting everything right in the first place. Read the entire article Should Other Companies Pay Apple at our sister site Apple Matters.

touchArcade is reporting that Handheld Games Corp has said the second generation iPod touch outperforms the iPhone 3G in games, and noticeably so. The most significant reason given is the 2G iPod touch uses the faster 532MHz CPU, as opposed to the iPhone 3G using the older 412MHz version, as also used in the first iPhone and iPod touch.

See complete article

There’s a certain amount of cleverness in rotating the Zune image and, as far as I know, all that credit should go to MacDailyNews. Funny image aside it turns out that the Zune (no surprise here) isn’t selling too well. What’s the prescription for a slow selling product? Price cuts and advertising. Not that price cuts and advertising will work, just that that is what you try to do if you’re falling farther and farther behind in the mp3 player marketplace.

The reality is that Microsoft is trying to make an iPod killer when the iPod is already dead. The iPhone stands over the bloody corpse of the iPod like some weird Viking on a Molly Hatchet album cover. So Microsoft is trying to beat something already beaten with price cuts and advertising. That is like trying to beat papyrus with cave wall writing when APple has already come out with the printing press. To put it another way: Microsoft is being reactive in an already dead market.

But, sure, Microsoft could come out with an iPhone killer. Microsoft could make Windows mobile compelling. But they… more...

The iPhone is a triumph of design and engineering. The thing is practically all screen and you can use one almost as soon as you pick it up. Fantastic device all around but even more fantastic when compared to the competition. That doesn’t mean the iPhone can’t get better, there are improvements that can be made. The first improvement most people would name is cut and paste. But that is just a programatic thing, if you wondering where the iPhone can really improve you have to look ahead to new technology.

Today’s tech that could help the iPhone down the road? Fuel Cells for mobile electronics. Fuel cells are interesting because they work like batterie as far as the device is concerned but, unlike batteries, fuel cells actually devour the reactant. So if you replace the reactant you’ve got a newly powered fuel cell. Most of us are familiar with fuel cells for large devices but there isn’t a good reason why fuel cells can’t be used for tiny electronics. That is just what my FC is trying to do with FuelCellSticker technology. These impossibly thin stickers generate almost a watt of power @ half a volt. The iPhone battery… more...

In case you haven’t heard (and you might not of, this is a new Blackberry not a new iPhone) the Blackberry Storm is coming out this week on November 21st. You’re going to be hearing a lot about the new Storm and how it compares to the iPhone. There will be useful lists which discuss each and every little difference in the spec sheets that will try and make it seem as though people are choosing between the iPhone and Bold as though they were trying to pick stocks. This stock has a trailing PE ration of…..

Don’t believe it for a second. The differences between an iPhone and a Bold, for the vast majority of consumers, comes down to the network. Or more precisely, the decision comes down to “I am friggin stuck at Verizon, what phone do they have that is most like the iPhone?” I come to this conclusion by a simple study: On the refrigerator there is a bit of direct mail announcing the Bold and the get in on date. I’ve got an iPhone so I don’t need the reminder. The wife is tied to Verizon but really wants… more...

If you look through the specs of the HTC Fuze you’ll see a lot of overlap with the iPhone. Touch screen, tri band communications, decent looks. The Fuze has some features the iPhone lacks: slide out keyboard, ability to edit Microsoft documents 3.2 megapixel camera and a few others. The iPhone one spec sheet advantage: $100 cheaper (and with the Fuze you have to use a coupon). Fro the spec sheets it seems like it would be a fair battle between the two cell phones with a 50/50 split between AT&T users (like the iPhone the Fuze is AT&T only). But it won’t be a fair fight and you cna already tell that the Fuze is going nowhere.

How can you tell?
First: The hype.
You haven’t heard anyone clamoring for the Fuze and the only people that seem mildly excited by the thing are those that generate press releases.

Second: it runs Windows Mobile
Ah, the achilles heal of the Fuze. Windows Mobile is being rejected for both OS X Mobile and the RIMM OS. and both of those are dominated by Symbian used by Nokia. Windows… more...

In the olden days the big battle was Mac or PC now it seems like the tech culture wars are all about the iPhone versus the Blackberry. Todays volley in the never ending battle? The iPhone fails much less than the Blackberry. We’re not talking just a little less but around half as much. That’s according to a study by SquareTrade which concluded that the iPhone failed at a rate of 5.6% and the Balckberry failed at a rate of 11.2%. Both numbers were better than the Treo which clocked in with a cool 16.2% failure rate which may be why no one seems to want a Treo.

Now you want to know why does the iPhone go bad at even a 1 in 20 rate? The answer is your bumble prone fingers. Yep, the most likely cause of iPhone failure is accident. Dropping the thing, seeing how far it will skip across the glass like surface of the pond outside your cabin door, the all over beer bath etc. So if you buy a great case you shouldn’t have much trouble.

How does SquareTrade get this data? SquareTrade sells extended warranties… more...