TechBlog | A technology blog with Dwight Silvermanvar OAS_version = 10; OAS_version = 11; var cntr = 1; try{OAS_AD('Top');}catch(e){} .pl_logline{background: white url(http://images.chron.com/photos/2006/09/01/gradient/gradient.jpg) no-repeat top left;height:16px;padding-right:5px;text-align:right;font: normal 11px Verdana, sans-serif;color: #000000; } Login / Sign-up Logout | Edit Profilevar insitecookie=GetCookie("chron_user_auth");var hccookie=GetCookie("hc_customize");if (insitecookie) { var name=insitecookie.replace(/\|.*/,""); if (hccookie) { var customarry=hccookie.split("|"); membername=customarry[10]; } editurl = "http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?plckPersonaPage=PersonaProfile&plckUserId="+membername+"&newspaperUserId="+membername; getObject('reg_name').innerHTML=''+membername+' profile '; getObject('reg_nonmember').style.display='none'; getObject('reg_member').innerHTML=' Logout |  try{OAS_AD('Top1');}catch(e){}try{OAS_AD('x90');}catch(e){} TechBlogUpgrade your geek with Dwight Silverman October 10, 2008Vista users: Why wait for Windows 7? Get a better UAC nowdigg_url = 'http://digg.com/software/Vista_users_Why_wait_for_Windows_7_Get_a_better_UAC_now'; On Thursday, I wrote about Microsoft's planned changes to the User Account Control for Windows 7. The feature, which requires users to confirm actions that affect Windows at a system level, kicks in way too often in Vista, and Microsoft plans to dial it back. In that post, I described how I think Windows 7's version of the UAC should behave: Here's how I hope it works: When you first get a popup, the UAC's text tells you specifically what's happening, and ask whether you want to see dialogs caused by this action in the future. You should be able to check a box and not see that kind of popup again. However, there needs to be a couple of caveats to this scenario. There are some instances in which you always want to see UAC popups, such as when a program tries to add folders or files to the Windows system directory - you should never be able to turn those off. The description of what's happening needs to be clear and succinct, and in plain English (at least in the English-language version of Windows). Too often, dialogs such as these are indecipherable to all but the geekiest among us. Coincidentally, Symantec on Thursday released a replacement for the Windows Vista UAC that does almost exactly what I described. The Norton UAC Tool - currently in beta -- changes the way the Vista feature works, letting you indicate in each popup that you don't want to see that kind of alert again.  It also tells you a little more about what's causing the popup, such as whether the program causing it is digitally signed and by whom, and why the alert was triggered. (In the image above, it's because the application is accessing a protected directory.) If you click View Details, you'll see that actual system modules that are involved in the activity.  From the Norton UAC FAQ: Q: So... what does this replacement offer me? A: Currently, the Norton Labs' UAC replacement offers a "Do not ask me again" option on each prompt making it very easy for the user to squelch individual prompts without fully disabling UAC. Further, the Norton Labs' UAC replacement displays the prompts in a slightly different way from how Microsoft chose to do it. We feel that our prompts provide a much clearer view of the ratings for the prompting application. Norton also collects information on the cause of the prompts, which will be used to generate a white list that will ship with the product when it's finished. Q: What does Norton Labs get out of my testing? A: DATA! Each time you see a prompt, the Norton Labs UAC Replacement sends meta information about what caused the prompt, and why, to our server. This data will be used, in aggregate, to help Norton Labs build a white list that can be shipped with the UAC replacement and LiveUpdated as needed. Q: What do you mean by "meta information"? A: The meta information contains file name and file hashes for the EXE that caused the prompt and the EXE that is to be the recipient of the elevated privileges. In addition, the meta information contains file name and file hashes for DLLs that were active in either of the two EXEs, response information (what option did the user choose, how quickly, and did they choose "do not ask me again"), and date/time info. In my tests in Windows Vista running in a VMware Fusion virtual machine, the Norton UAC tool popped up in place of the standard UAC in a snappy fashion - in fact, it may be faster than the Vista UAC. Once I checked the "Don't ask me again" box, the popup did not reappear. However, the tool also generated occasional error messages, but still continued to run. It is, as I mentioned, beta software, and the usual caveats apply. That said, if you want a better-behaved UAC now, rather than waiting for the release of Windows 7, this may be an option. But back up your data first, and I'd suggest not using it for now on a system on which you rely for critical work. Technorati tags: norton, uac, user account control, symantec, windows vista, windows 7, microsoftPosted by Dwight at 07:56 AM in Software, Tips, tricks, tweaks, Windows Vista | Comments (2).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} It's Friday, and the comments are openHere's your Friday open-comment thread. Post your thoughts on anything personal-tech related here, and I'll approve 'em. Then come back and see what your fellow TechBlog denizens have to say about what you had to say. In other words: Lather, rinse, repeat.Posted by Dwight at 07:21 AM in Open-comment Fridays | Comments (5).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} Linkpost | 10.10.2008• Will Google's Android Be the Tipping Point for Smart Phones? - The iPhone already was, but Android certainly helps. • First T-Mobile G1 user review - First review from someone who's actually been using the Android phone for some time. • Orange internal statement on Blackberry Bold quality issues - Why Orange removed the smartphone from its lineup. RIM's attempting to fix the problems for all carriers. • Walmart has a change of heart, decides to maintain DRM servers - After hearing complaints from its customers. • Mozilla locks in Firefox 3.1 feature list - First beta coming as early as next week. • Parents want to be "cool", are using SMS with their kids - Or, they just want to communicate quickly and efficiently with them. But more and more people are using SMS. • Bungie: Recon is our last Halo trilogy project - After Halo: Recon, that's it for the series . . . from Bungie, anyway. • Can Tina Brown's Daily Beast show me everything that's great on the Web today? - Former Vanity Fair and New Yorker editor launches her own aggregator. • Zuckerberg: Facebook Will Have A Business Plan In Three Years - If it's still around by then. If you don't have a business plan now, you'll probably be toast by then. • How Much Do Top Tier Bloggers and Social Media Consultants Get Paid? We Asked Them! - From not much to well into six figures. • The Sequoia "RIP: Good Times" presentation: Here it is - Quick tutorial on why markets have imploded and what it means for tech. View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: depression recession)  Posted by Dwight at 07:14 AM in Linkposts | Comments (1).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} October 09, 2008Microsoft reworking the UAC for Windows 7 Few features are more contentious in Windows Vista than the User Account Control. When Vista-bashers catalog their complaints about Microsoft's news operating system, it's at the top of their lists. The UAC pops up warnings when certain actions occur - usually when you're about to make some change that will affect the entire operating system, rather than just your account. For example, if you install software that will be accessible by anyone who logs into the PC, you'll get a UAC prompt. Such warning popups actually are common to other types of operating systems. If you've used Linux or the Mac OS, you know they have similar features. The difference is that the UAC warning seem to pop up a lot more often, and it can get quite annoying.  The reason for the UAC is to prevent unauthorized changes to a computer, particularly those that may be made by malicious software. Yeah, the UAC may be irritating, but it works - Windows Vista is much more secure as a result. As Microsoft works on Windows 7 - which is expected to be unveiled later this month at the Professional Developers Conference - it's been presumed that UAC will be tweaked. Sure enough, Microsoft's Ben Fathi writes at the Engineering Windows 7 blog that UAC is being reworked: The benefits UAC has provided to the ecosystem and Windows are clear; we need to continue that work. By successfully enabling standard users UAC has achieved its goal of giving IT administrators and parents greater control to lock down their systems for certain users. As shown in our data above, we've seen the number of external applications and Windows components that unnecessarily require Admin privileges dramatically drop. This also has the direct benefit of reducing the total amount of prompts users see, a common complaint we hear frequently. Moving forward we will look at the scenarios we think are most important for our users so we can ensure none of these scenarios include prompts that can be avoided. Additionally, we will look at "top prompters" and continue to engage with third-party software vendors and internal Microsoft teams to further reduce unnecessary prompts. More importantly, as we evolve UAC for Windows 7 we will address the customer feedback and satisfaction issues with the prompts themselves. We've heard loud and clear that you are frustrated. You find the prompts too frequent, annoying, and confusing. We still want to provide you control over what changes can happen to your system, but we want to provide you a better overall experience. We believe this can be achieved by focusing on two key principles. 1) Broaden the control you have over the UAC notifications. We will continue to give you control over the changes made to your system, but in Windows 7, we will also provide options such that when you use the system as an administrator you can determine the range of notifications that you receive. 2) Provide additional and more relevant information in the user interface. We will improve the dialog UI so that you can better understand and make more informed choices. We've already run new design concepts based on this principle through our in-house usability testing and we've seen very positive results. 83% of participants could provide specific details about why they were seeing the dialog. Participants preferred the new concepts because they are "simple", "highlight verified publishers," "provide the file origin," and "ask a meaningful question." The items I boldfaced are key - they're how Microsoft plans to change UAC. From this, it appears Microsoft will let those who have administrator rights on a PC have some say over what causes a UAC popup, and when you see one, it will provide more information about what's going on. Here's how I hope it works: When you first get a popup, the UAC's text tells you specifically what's happening, and ask whether you want to see dialogs caused by this action in the future. You should be able to check a box and not see that kind of popup again. However, there needs to be a couple of caveats to this scenario. There are some instances in which you always want to see UAC popups, such as when a program tries to add folders or files to the Windows system directory - you should never be able to turn those off. The description of what's happening needs to be clear and succinct, and in plain English (at least in the English-language version of Windows). Too often, dialogs such as these are indecipherable to all but the geekiest among us. I'd hope you'd also be able to choose UAC popup types from a Control Panel module - and that you'd be able to turn off the ability make choices from the UAC popups themselves. I'm presuming that these choices would not be available to standard accounts, which have limited privileges anyway. Related: Ed Bott invites you to guess what the final name for Windows 7 will be. Technorati tags: windows 7, microsoft, uacPosted by Dwight at 08:11 AM in Microsoft, Software | Comments (8).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} Linkpost | 10.9.2008Updated 4:23 p.m. • Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for October 2008 - Four critical fixes coming next week for Patch Tuesday. • About Security Update 2008-007 - Slew of security related fixes for Mac OS X. • Apple announces October 14 notebook event in Cupertino and Sources: latest MacBook Pro photo is the real deal • 40 laid off at software company as execs arrested - Entellium officials charged with making up revenue figures to attract investors. • EXCLUSIVE: Apple to launch $800 laptop - Retailers reportedly given sheets with 12 price points, ranging from $800 to $3,100. • 25+ Incredibly Useful Twitter Tools and Firefox Plugins - Great list of tools for twitfolk. • Best Buy's Enterprise Twitter - One of many companies using microblogging internally. • YouTube adds "Read Comment Aloud" feature from xkcd - Comic strip suggests YouTube force commenters to hear their words aloud before posting them. Google programmers like the idea, add it as a real feature!  • Ubisoft creative director: "Piracy's basically killing PC" - Gaming, that is. • Google's Super Satellite Captures First Image • TiVo on your PC is cool, but there are kinks to fix - USA Today reviews Nero's new DVR software. • Will Windows 7 get a new name for its release? - Vote on what you think Windows 7 will be called. • Engineering Windows 7: User Account Control - Microsoft details how UAC may change in the next version of Windows. You'll have more control over when UAC popups occur. • Microsoft Preps External Blu-Ray Disc Optical Drive for Xbox 360 - As expected. • Survey: 8% of U.S. teens own an iPhone; 22% want one - Piper Jaffray survey of teens. • Apple patents OS X Dock - Which leaves a lot of companies - including Dell, which just started offering a Dock clone on its Vista PCs - wondering when the lawyers will start knocking. • Window for rumored October 14 Apple event closing - Could be new Mac notebooks won't be coming this quarter after all. • Crisis Will Hit Telecom Business, Analyst Says - AT&T, others won't be immune this time around. • Times are officially tough: Sequoia says so - Venture capital firm warns Silicon Valley that things are going to be very bad. • Google Confirms RSS For Web Search Results • Tennessee Man Indicted for Alleged Hack of Governor Sarah Palin's E-Mail AccountPosted by Dwight at 06:30 AM in Linkposts | Comments (0).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} October 08, 2008Watching the debates with family and thousands of friends![twitter[1]](http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/WindowsLiveWriter/4e9c56026c7c_701A/twitter%5B1%5D_1.gif) This election season, I've been able to watch each of the major debates with both my families. There's my real-life family, camped out with me in the living room. Then there's my online family: Friends with whom I interact via Twitter, Facebook and other social media. I've been watching the debates with my MacBook open and my browser set to Twitter's hypnotic election page. At the same time, I've got the Twhirl client for Twitter running, and I'm watching what the people I follow - many of whom are locals - are saying as the drama unfolds. It's changed the experience of watching a debate for me. I can bounce ideas off my family, and continue the discussion with those on Twitter. Meanwhile, I can watch in almost real-time as random strangers on Twitter's election page react to what's happening between the candidates. I'm as much interested in the thoughts of those with whom I disagree as I am with those who share my viewpoints, and this is a great way to see both, in an almost instantaneous fashion. Sure, there's a lot of inanity, particularly from the purely partisan sniping that happens on the Twitter election page. But I've learned to filter out the pointless "McCain is evil" or "Obama's a terrorist" nonsense. Of course, it requires a little multi-tasking, and watching a political debate this way is a lot less passive than just sitting in front of the TV and studying what happens. What's even more fun is engaging in a little personal, online punditry after the debate's over. Who needs the clichéd, hackneyed talking heads doing their predictable analysis on CNN, Fox or MSNBC, when you can engage in a little brainstorming with intelligent friends? For example, Houston Technology Center executive Marc Nathan and I exchanged thoughts about how the presidency is too big a job for one person, and others chimed in. Some excerpts: marc1919: we really should have a 3 person 'office of the president' to even things out - 1) domestic policy 2) foreign policy 3) economic policy dsilverman: @marc1919 that hasn't worked for any company that's tried it (think CPQ in its decline) and it won't work in govt. indecison at its finest. marc1919: @dsilverman I know you can't have more than 1 boss, especially 3 but no single person can excel at everything dsilverman: @marc1919 that's what the cabinet and advisors are for. the presidency is already more than 1 person. it's who's picked to surround the prez dsilverman: @marc1919 what i'd like to see is both candidates announce their cabinets before election day. who surrounds them would be revelatory. Obscura: @dsilverman @maslowbeer I'll jump on that bandwagon. (Candidates announce cabnets/advisors before the election) stephweiss: @dsilverman I love the idea of naming the cabinets before the election. Then we get to vote on the package, not just the wrapping paper. How are you watching the debates? Old school, with just the TV? Or are you watching with a computer at the ready, in a more interactive fashion? Please leave a comment. Technorati tags: election, debates, twitterPosted by Dwight at 07:43 AM in Tech & society, The Web | Comments (4).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} Linkpost | 10.8.2008Updated 6:59 a.m. • BlackBerry Storm First Hands On from Gizmodo and BlackBerry Storm 9500 hands-on from Engadget. Push down on the ENTIRE TOUCHSCREEN to click something. Also The T-Grid: BlackBerry Storm vs. iPhone 3G • Google launches AdSense for Games - Google ads in Flash-based games. • Black Ice Album Leaked Online! - AC/DC's new CD was supposed to be available exclusively at Wal-Mart. • What the Combined Yahoo-AOL Might Look Like, As Talks Drag On-Oops-Heat Up! - AOL, Yahoo again talking merger. Two sinking ships going down together? • Why I can't wait for the iPod to die - New innovation, rather than copying, will happen. Also Steve Wozniak interview: iconic co-founder on the iPod, iPhone, and future for Apple • Investor David Einhorn Done With Microsoft, Ballmer - Says Microsoft has behaved in "an overaggressive and almost panicky fashion" as far as online is involved. • Microsoft Pledges $1.5M for Games Research • 6 Exceptional Web-based Image Editors - Missing: Snipshot.com, my favorite. • Chumby now supports Pandora Radio - Match made in heaven, particularly if you connect better speakers to Chumby. • Buy Stuff "As Seen On YouTube" With New Click-to-Buy Platform • Flash Player workaround available for Clickjacking issue - Some simple steps to protect yourself. • Facebook Rolls Out Microsoft Live Search - Facebook users can now search the Web from the site. Uh, lots of sites have this, why is SiliValley in such a froth over this? • Facebook COO: Web Needs New Model, New Metrics - Amen. But who will deliver it? Not Facebook . . . Posted by Dwight at 05:46 AM in Linkposts | Comments (1).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} October 07, 2008AMD splitting into 2 companies: Design and fabrication![45446A_PhenomX4_chip_lo_res[1]](http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/WindowsLiveWriter/AMDsplittinginto2companiesDesignandfabri_6457/45446A_PhenomX4_chip_lo_res%5B1%5D_thumb_1.jpg "45446A_PhenomX4_chip_lo_res[1]") Chip-maker Advanced Microsoft Devices, seemingly forever stuck in the No. 2 position behind top competitor Intel, will announce today that it will break itself into two different companies using money from a pair of Abu Dhabi investment firms. The New York Times reports that what is now AMD will design chips. A second company will build those chips, and will offer itself for hire to other processor designers. From the Times' story: A.M.D., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., makes graphics, computer and server processors. It will own 44.4 percent of the new entity, which has been temporarily named the Foundry Company, a reference to the technical term for a chip factory. The Advanced Technology Investment Company will own the rest. Advanced Technology, which was formed by the Abu Dhabi government, has promised to put up $2.1 billion immediately and contribute $3.6 billion to $6 billion more to build or upgrade chip fabrication plants, also known as fabs. A.M.D. said the two companies would share voting control equally. The Mubadala Development Company, an Abu Dhabi company that bought 8 percent of A.M.D. in November, will pay $314 million for 58 million newly issued shares, increasing its stake in the presplit company to 19.3 percent. It will also get warrants to buy 30 million shares. A.M.D. stock closed Monday at $4.23 a share, down 30 cents. "We generally believe this deal is a game changer for the industry," said Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chief executive of Mubadala. "It's bold, and I think it's smart." Building chips is costlier than designing them. The capital costs of building and upgrading fabrication plants are a burden. But just because AMD is spinning off its manufacturing doesn't mean those costs will go away. They'll just be transferred to a new company that must still keep up to stay competitive. However, it will be better able to spread those costs to other customers. There are lots of processor design firms that don't own their own fabs. Ironically, an AMD executive once famously bragged about the company sticking to the manufacturing business: The split, which has been in the works for more than a year, did not come easily to A.M.D. According to company lore, A.M.D.'s co-founder and longtime chief executive, W. J. Sanders III, known as Jerry, once remarked that "real men have fabs." Under the deal proposed by A.M.D., the company would retain many of the traditional benefits of fabs, since part of Foundry will be dedicated to serving A.M.D. and will remain in close communication with the company's engineers. "We feel like we're still pretty manly at A.M.D.," Mr. Meyer said. Noting that Mr. Sanders made his quip over a decade ago, he added, "Frankly, the math has changed." AMD has a significant presence in Texas. It has offices and a manufacturing plant in Austin, and is building a new campus there. There's no indication yet whether this move will affect AMD's Austin expansion. The Abu Dhabi money angle is interesting. That tiny Middle Eastern nation is awash in oil and the resulting cash is now flowing into the technology sector. This may concern those who worry about American companies increasingly being bought up by foreign interests, but if it ultimately keeps AMD alive and competing with Intel, it's a positive. One of the reasons that personal computer processors are as advanced, powerful and as cheap as they are today is because of the battle between AMD and Intel. There have been times, particularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Intel rested on its laurels and AMD woke it up with faster processors that it sold at lower prices. Intel's ahead at the moment in terms of price/performance, but it's always aware of AMD nipping at its heels. Whatever it takes for AMD to survive is worth it. Update: There's now a Web site up for The Foundry Co., and it includes an overview of the AMD/Foundry structure (PDF). You can listen to a webcast of AMD's conference call with analysts. The Austin American-Statesman says AMD will lay off "a small number of employees", but doesn't yet have details on how Austin's 2,700 employees will be affected. The fabrication plant there will become a part of The Foundry Co. Technorati tags: amd, processorsPosted by Dwight at 07:46 AM in Hardware | Comments (6).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} October 06, 2008Linkpost | 10.7.2008Updated 7 a.m. • A.M.D. to Split Into Two Operations - One company will design processors, the other will build them. • Lightbulbs Could Replace Wi-Fi Hotpsots - Data would ride light waves from LEDs. • Has Microsoft lost it? - Has Steve Ballmer inherited an empire in decline? • New in Labs: Stop sending mail you later regret - If you enable Mail Goggles in Gmail, you'll have to answer math questions before you can send e-mail late at night on weekends. Seriously. • In A Switch, Hulu Will Stream Remaining Presidential Debates Live; Premiere A Film - It's the first time Hulu.com will stream live. • Mozilla CEO John Lilly: Firefox Mobile Alphas coming "in a few weeks" - Firefox for mobile devices about to hit the streets. • Scientist: Holographic television to become reality - Dang! I don't even have HDTV yet! • Study: Huge growth in Wi-Fi devices expected - Wi-Fi chips could be in a billion devices by 2012. • Are We Sure About Pending Collapse of Ad-Supported Internet? - Advertising thrives in hard times for a number of reasons. • Exclusive: First Look at the BlackBerry Application Center! - The BlackBerry's equivalent to the iTunes App Store. • AT&T Kills Off $20 Unlimited Pre-Paid Data - Because customers were using it to tether phones to notebooks. • Mozilla's Geode brings geographic Web to Firefox - Plug-in improves Firefox's ability to work with location information. • Analyst: Half of 'social media campaigns' will flop - Where businesses' and customers' needs don't meet. • Apple Doesn't Need Jobs, Analyst SaysPosted by Dwight at 10:59 PM in Linkposts | Comments (4).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} Updated: Six features Apple must add to the iPhone 2.2 software Modern smartphones are essentially small computers. How they perform and what they can do is largely a matter of the software running inside them, and that's particularly true of the iPhone 3G. Software improvements have made it a much better product, and that's one big reason I finally caved and bought one. But it could be even better. Apple's already begin working with developers on the next release of the iPhone software. Version 2.2 will have revamped layouts for Safari and the App Store. And MacRumors is reporting this morning that it will also have support for Google Street View and Japanese emoticons, as well as the ability to turn off corrective typing. But these are relatively minor tweaks. There are five big features Apple needs to add to the iPhone, posthaste: • Cut and paste. iPhone users have been screaming for this one since even before the first version was released. The idea that a phone this sophisticated wouldn't have cut-and-paste is a joke at this point, but no iPhone users are laughing at this point. Apple has indicated the feature is on its to-do list, but just not high up on the priority list. • Turn off Wi-Fi/3G/Bluetooth from the home screen. Right now, if you want to disable any or all of the iPhone 3G's radios, you must dive into the phone's Preferences menus - and sometimes it's a ridiculously deep plunge. Turning off Bluetooth requires four taps: Preferences > General > Bluetooth > Off. Yeah, there's a single "Flight Mode" button at the top of Preferences, but that kills all radios, including the one for the phone. Apple needs to put a programmable icon on the home page that lets you quickly kill just the radios you want, or brings up a single screen that lets you control them. I haven't seen this in the App Store, so I suspect turning off radios isn't available in the iPhone SDK. That means Apple needs to do it. • Enable background notifications for apps. Steve Jobs promised earlier this year that we'd see by September a background notification service for iPhone applications. This would allow them to receive information when they weren't running front-and-center on the phone, making applications such as instant messaging much more useful. The notification feature wasn't in the 2.1 software release, and September has come and gone. And there have been no reports yet that background notification is in the 2.2 betas, either. • A Flash player. Adobe's workin' on it. Apple needs to cooperate with them to make it happen, which it may do if it's only a player. Full-featured Flash could download and run applications independently of the App Store, but a simple player wouldn't necessarily threaten Apple. • Video recording. Even non-smartphones have the ability to record, save and send video. That the iPhone can't falls into the same category as cut-and-paste - it's ludicrous that it's not there. Some Web-based services are trying to fix this problem - Qik, for example, is working on an iPhone app that would let you stream video live, which would then be saved on its site (there's already a version of this for jailbroken iPhones). But this is something that should be native to the iPhone, if only so it can catch up with its lesser competitors. • MMS messaging. Another jaw-dropper: iPhone 3G can't send or receive Multimedia Messaging Service messages. C'mon, Apple, this one's simply embarrassing. What other features do you think should be in the next iPhone software update? Update: According to this blog post, Apple may have already passed its goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008, with less than three months left to go in the year. This claim is based on an unusual way of attempting to count iPhone sales, based on unique numbers for the devices posted to a Mac Observer forum. An IMEI number or an International Mobile Equipment Identity number is a unique 15 digit code assigned to each individual iPhone found on the back of the box in which an iPhone is packaged. Within this 15 digit code are two 6-digit numerical sequences crucial to determining the number of iPhones being produced. One 6 digit number, known as the TAC, or Type Allocation Code, signifies a particular build or set of iPhones being manufactured. The second 6 digit number is unique to each individual iPhone produced in that particular series--so that 1 million iPhones can be registered to a specific TAC. In other words, one six digit code, known as the TAC, signifies a set of iPhones being produced whereas the other six digit code signifies each individual iPhone within the TAC set. Members at the Apple Finance Board at Mac Observer have been collecting IMEI numbers from new 3G iPhones sold during the period, and have been maintaining a spreadsheet of iPhone IMEI data points along with the purchase date, model, and production week. By early September, Apple was on its 8th TAC, meaning that 8 million 3G iPhones had already been manufactured. The actual number of handsets sold versus manufactured depends on a variety of factors including the amount of inventory Apple carries in its retail chain, defects that were destroyed, defects that were sold and then exchanged, display models etc. However, the latest IMEI data point collected by AFB was 9,190,680--an 8GB Black iPhone recorded as manufactured on September 29 and sold on October 5. This suggests that even if a whopping 1.5 million iPhones of the total IMEI registered devices are unsold as of today, an unlikely assumption, it would still put 3G iPhone sales at 7.6 million units and 2008 iPhone sales at over 10 million units. Coming into the quarter, Apple had already sold 2.42 million iPhones. Thus, 7.6 million 3G iPhones sold puts Apple above 10 million units for the year. You can see the spreadsheet mentioned in the quote here. I'm taking this report with a large grain of salt. There are way too many variables to be sure this is correct - but if it is, it's impressive. Separately, NPD Group is reporting that the iPhone 3G is the second best-selling handset in the U.S., behind the Motorola's Razr 3. Technorati Tags: iphone 3g,2.2,2.1,software,cell phones,smartphonesPosted by Dwight at 08:09 AM in Apple, Cell phones & telephony, iPhone | Comments (25).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} Linkpost | 10.6.2008Updated 7:13 a.m. • Court Temporarily Shuts Down RealDVD - Hollywood wins a round. • Turn Firefox into a Google Chrome Clone - Using themes and extensions (something Chrome itself can't do, at the moment). • Google Spreadsheets Redesign - Interface now matches Google's word processing and presentation apps. • Ask.com Revamps Search Engine - Adds more structured results, drops from a 3- to 2-pane display. • NASA, U.S. Chess Federation to Begin Earth vs. Space Match -- Vote on moves to be played against an astronaut on the International Space Station. • Linux turns 17 -- And it's still the Year of the Linux Desktop! • MySpace Music streams over a billion tracks in a few short days • So, you need a job. Man, do resumes suck? -- Tips from Robert Scoble -- who's apparently hiring -- on getting hired. • Google Chrome: One Month Later -- It's fallen off many users' radars. • Wall Street Starts Cutting Google Estimates • Five Best Media Converters -- And they're all free. • 20 ways to speed up your Mac • Matt Mullenweg Demo of Wordpress 2.7 and Wordpress 2.7 is the Real Deal Posted by Dwight at 05:54 AM in Linkposts | Comments (0).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} October 05, 2008Ike post-mortem: How'd your Internet connection do? Hurricane Ike brought plenty of destruction to the Houston-Galveston area, but the storm's broadest impact was from widespread power outages that, for many, lasted weeks. When power was finally restored, many also found their broadband Internet connection was still down, regardless of whether they relied on DSL or cable access. I was lucky. In my case, my Comcast-based access was alive when my power was restored 11 days after the storm hit. Also, I still had the U-verse Internet connection I'd used for my column review, and it, too, was up and running. In fact, I got an automated call to my cell phone telling me U-verse service had been restored - a call that came several days before I had power. But I'm still hearing from folks who are without Internet access. What's your situation? If you've got Internet access, how long did it take before it was restored? If not, what's your provider telling you about when it will be fixed? And how did you cope (or are you still coping) without access? Leave a comment. Technorati Tags: hurricane ike,internet service providers,ISPsPosted by Dwight at 09:27 AM in Internet service providers | Comments (85).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} Linkpost | 10.5.2008• The 'Brick' is... - New rumor: Apple has a new manufacturing process that uses lasers, water cutting to build notebook cases out of a single brick of aluminum. Also Rumor: Nvidia-powered MacBooks on October 14th • Post Hate Mail About Our Link To Steve Jobs Heart Attack Report Here - Heny Blodget explains why he posted on CNN's "citizen journalism" false report about a Steve Jobs heart attack. • More Info on the Asus S101, The MacBook Air that You Can Actually Afford - 16-GB solid state drive, ultra-thin, Windows XP for $699. • Linux laptops returned 4x as often as Windows - According to netbook maker MSI. • Do you want to play with the G1? - Site features 3D view and a software emulator. • Tech Employees' Political Contributions Dramatically Favor Obama - At least those based out of Silicon Valley, according to a database at The Huffington Post. • Can't Open Your E-Mailbox? Good Luck - Particularly if your e-mail provider is Google.Posted by Dwight at 09:08 AM in Linkposts | Comments (5).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} October 04, 2008Linkpost | 10.4.2008• Amazon Kindle 2 e-books its way to BGR - Boy Genius Report has purported photos of the next Kindle. • SEC Examining False Report on Apple Chief Jobs and False Steve Jobs Heart Attack Report on CNN's iReport Is a Failure of Open Systems • G1 Pre-Sale Madness: T-Mobile Triples Production, Sells Them All - And it's not even actually on the street yet. • Fring Enables VoIP Calls Over Wi-Fi for iPhone with Skype Support - Free VoIP program finally comes to the iTunes App Store. • Zune services on Win Mobile = 'Pink' - Microsoft may put Zune's store & other services available on Windows Mobile devices, but won't do a Zune phone. • Credit card processors finally get clue, will ban WEP - Many wireless point-of-sale systems still use WEP, which is easily cracked.Posted by Dwight at 07:48 AM in Linkposts | Comments (0).YahooAdCentered { text-align: center; }.YahooAdCentered table { margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; }#adviewer_div { text-align:center; } if (cntr == 1) { try{OAS_AD('x47');}catch(e){} cntr += 1;} try{OAS_AD('x44');}catch(e){}Chron.com blogsAbout:ChronAggiesBaby StepsBajo La LupaBaseballBayou City HistoryBeltway ConfidentialBefore "I do"Bragging RightsBrawl SportsCancer DivaCareer RescueCars & TrucksCliff NotesCook's TourCougarsCourtsideEnron: TrialWatchFanBlog: AstrosFanBlog: SoccerFanBlog: TexansFanBlog: Yao CentralFanZoneFour DVRs, no WaitingGame HacksHandStamp HelpLine Hockey Home in the Heights Houston Departures Hurricanes Immigration ChroniclesIn TuneInside Fort Bend InsideKaty Inside Kingwood/HumbleInside The Bay AreaInside The WoodlandsKing Solomon's MindKristin2GoLazy GardenerLegal TradeLeon HaleLivingGreenLonghornsLopez @ LargeLoren SteffyMeMoNBANewsWatch: City HallNewsWatch: EnergyNewsWatch: HomicideNewsWatch: White House NFL Nick AndersonOwlsOutdoorsOuttakes Pit Stop PrepAthlete PrepSportsSchool ZoneSciGuySetListShop GirlSoccer y FútbolSpirited ChatSportsCastSportsJusticeSportsSoupSportsUpdateTag's Baseball PlaysTechBlogTexansChickTexas PoliticsT.M.I.TubularUH AthleticsThe Unofficial ScorerWatch This!The Z ReportReader blogsSearch Search this blog:CategoriesAOLAppleiPhoneBlogs and bloggingCell phones & telephonyConsumer electronicsCustomer serviceDellDigital music, movies, mediaE-mailFave6GamesGoogleGovernment & regulationHPHardwareHouston technologyITInternet service providersJunkwareLinkpostsLinuxMemo to selfMicrosoftWindows VistaOpen-comment FridaysPodcastsRSSSXSWSecurityShopgeekSoftwareTech & societyThe WebTips, tricks, tweaksWhateverWiFiCaffeinated Wi-FiYahooDWIGHT @ TWITTERFollow Dwight at twitter.com. 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