Why?

Why in the world would anyone use email to transfer huge files like that? Performance is crap, and any attachment is increased by ˜50% when it's encoded, exacerbating the problem. Email was never meant for sending massive files like this. Finally, 99% of emails are transferred serially, which means if you have 50 emails to download to your computer, and the first one is a gig, then you have to wait half an hour (if you're lucky and the transfer doesn't bork) for that to download before you can even access the rest.

The only reason these major webmail services allow for such things is so they can datamine the attachments. This sort of thing is completely impractical for almost all non-web based email systems.

There's an app for that

If we can figure out how to make super large bacteria, the obvious application for such a creature is as security for secret islands where the residents have numbers for names.

Really?

As the current owner of a Galaxy S3, I can say that maybe they should spend less time on new features, and more time on making the existing ones work.

Kies is a massive steaming load of crap. MTP doesn't work. Even when I put the phone into PTP mode, Picasa is unable to pull pictures from it. Data transfer is so utterly useless that I've had to resort to installing an FTP server on my phone and using Filezilla to transfer files back and forth.

It's a flagship alright. Of the mediocre navy.

The purpose?

To squeeze extra money out of people, obviously. They want a steadier, more reliable revenue stream so they are heavily pushing their subscription model. In the process, they are willfully crippling their desktop offerings to 'entice' people towards the subscription version.

For example Home & Student, besides being more expensive than before, can't be installed on 3 machines anymore and doesn't include outlook.

The single worst change is that retail copies of Office are NO LONGER TRANSFERABLE between computers! So if you upgrade to a new computer, you have to buy a fresh copy of office because you're not allowed to move your license from your old machine.

These new licensing changes are just begging for a legal challenge.

Microsoft copying Apple YET AGAIN.

I believe Apple has a patent on fscking up major rollouts, having screw up every single one that I am aware of (see .Mac, .Me, iCloud, Maps... I'm sure there are more...).

And now Microsoft mangles their MSN-Skype merge. It would be nice to see Microsoft not copy some of the things Apple does.

Why only tech companies?

Do they think that tech companies invented the tax avoidance process? They're just doing what every other multinational is doing.

Damn immigrants!

How dare they come here and take all our hard-fought and desperately needed iPhones!

Makes you wonder...

So far everyone has been beating up on Apple for sounding like a cheapskate, etc etc. But if Ericson is also complaining about the same thing, then IMO that changes things. It certainly does make Samsung look like it's being a bully.

Seems normal to me

This is what can be expected as a regime heads into decline. Soon they'll be demanding people pay bribes just so loved ones can get jobs, like happened in the Roman Empire.

Corruption? What corruption? Oh hang on... there's a knock at my door...

How many...

How many macs could Sam Sung sell if Sam Sung could sell macs?

Hmm... don't roll too well off the tongue... Oh well.

So....

A guy who invented a crap language/system that people at large hate, supports another another crap language/system that people at large hate.

At least he's consistent.

Can android do server connectivity yet?

I currently have a phone with gingerbread on it. The first thing I noticed, compared to the iphone I had given up, was that android was incapable of synchronizing with anything but exchange or google's services. I had to buy 3rd party software just to connect to my zimbra OSE box, and even that's not 100% stable. When I looked at the ICS tablets, they also couldn't do it.

The new Nexii apparently use android 4.2. Has this finally been fixed yet? I don't care what device I get as long as it does what I need it to. If Android *still* can't handle such things, then my only option will be an iDevice, regardless of how better/worse the specs are.

Why no touch screens on iMacs?

Because it's stupid idea you bloody fool.

How these Wall Street people manage to think that their opinions are worth anything at all is a mystery, considering that they single-handedly destroyed the American economy and helped bring about a global recession.

Obama vs Bush

Unlike Bush, Obama is apparently doing an exceptional job in getting relief to affected people. Apparently he's doing such a good job that even major Republican talking heads are *congratulating and thanking him*.

I think Sandy just won Obama the election. Or perhaps more accurately, Americans are now seeing clearly first hand how effective a democrat president is, compared to the mindblowing incompetence of a republican one. Mitt is getting his rear end handed to him over wanting to shut down FEMA.

Now if only...

They'd release their line of products to more places! I'm still waiting for the TF700KL to appear in Canada, and I'm about ready to give up and just buy an ipad 4 instead.

Who now?

Who is this Ubisoft company again? I vaguely recall a company by that name that treated their customers like criminals, and that the last game I bought from them on the Mac wouldn't even *launch* because they wrapped their game is some idiotic DRM that was incompatible with OSX Lion.

So I don't buy anything from them anymore, just like I refuse to buy Sony for similar reasons.

Don't you hate it?

Don't you hate it when Richard Stallman is right?

Even better

They let you download either the mac or windows version. They've also currently got a bunch of stuff going for free (yay Tyrian!) I don't know if that's a normal thing they do or if it's part of the mac ports launch.

Third Paragraph from the bottom

I think that paragraph pretty much sums up the whole affair. Vista was considered a write off, and even the service pack couldn't repair the overwhelmingly negative reputation of the OS.

It sounds to me like they found some major issues in Windows 8, and they desperately want to avoid developing a reputation of "Microsoft is stuck in the past because every time they try something new, they screw it up completely." Which is pretty much what they are developing now, when you consider the reception they recieved from Vista, Zune, and their entire Windows CE/Mobile/Phone/NewNameOfTheMonth line.

What blizzard needs to do...

Is to have a couple of NPCs travelling around pulling a cart of body while ringing a bell and shouting, "Bring out your dead!"

And occasionally another group of NPCs should run out from a building to negotiate with said prior NPCs, while one of them continually shouting, "But I'm not dead!"

Hell no

We already put up with advertisements because the advertising money pays for the content. If a site wants to go the micropayment route, that's fine.

But micropayments AND ads? Absolutely not. People already pay way too much money for television subscriptions, for what? The privilege of watching ads? And now they want to do the same to the web?

Thanks but no thanks.

I fail to see any downsides to this...

I fully support the notion of taking patent trolls and locking them in rooms filled with black mambas.

Chairs huh?

Suddenly I begin to understand the root of the animosity between Facebook and Mr. Balmer.

Does it really matter?

Who cares where it comes from, as long as the app does what it needs to do. Apple screwed the pooch big time on Maps, and Google has (so far) denied that they are developing a native iOS app.

So if Microsoft is able to swoop in with a functioning app, then all the power to them. If their app can do turn by turn directions, can handle transit and walking directions, has reasonably up to date data, and has offline capability, then I just can't see a problem.

Oblig.

You're just inserting it wrong.

Followed by:

That's what she said.

Or maybe....

Foxconn just wasn't able to coerce enough interns to pump out more product?

The 'tard' in commentard

How is it that so many people commenting on this article are so amazingly stupid?

Acer agreed to be a part of the Open Handset Alliance. That is a group of companies that have all jointly agreed to work together to advance a common platform that would be guaranteed to work together, for the good of everyone. They also agreed that they would stick with this plan, and not spin out incompatible derivatives.

Acer agreed to do this. Then they tried to break their agreement. How is this monopoly abuse?

FURTHER, Aliyun was demonstrated to thoroughly pirate large quantites of software. Not just Googles, but various third parties. So not only was Acer was about to put out a phone that was in direct and clear violation of their agreements to the OHA, but it would be chock full of pirated software to boot. If that phone went out, they would have been crushed under the weight of the huge number of lawsuits dropped on them.

I suspect google's entire envolvement in this was a quick call to Acer's brass, saying "Do you have any idea how stupid of a mistake you're about to make?"

LOL

Sony has a long an cherished history of screwing with their customers. From music CDs with rootkits, taking away marketed functionality after the fact via bios updates, etc etc.

I question the sanity of anyone who buys any Sony product with the expectation that they are going to actually get what they paid for.

In other words...

They wanted to remove the subsidies, but continue charging their inflated service fees and so reap even greater profit.

Yeah, how's that working for ya?

Pico-SIMs?

So how long till we move to pico-SIMs? You know, the ones that are give to you in the form of a needle and you have to inject it into a small hold in your phone?

*facepalm*

I love how everyone keeps focusing on the details and putting up these fantastic strawmen that they are just tickled to phlegm to burn down.

Of COURSE apple didn't "invent" 3G. Or rectangular devices with rounded corners. Or touch screens (although they were pretty near the forefront with the Newton, as much as Jobs refused to admit). Or all the other stupid niggly details that everyone seems to be so up in arms about.

The crux of the argument is that, as a whole, Samsung did everything they could to muddy the words and make their devices look as close to iDevice as possible without being a like-for-like copy. Revised icons that were similar to iOS. Hardware details that were similar to iDevice. Hell, they even duplicated the packaging to very closely mimic the iDevice packaging, right down to a white box with a plain image of a SamDevice on it. (Where Mr. Obviously came up with that paper bag thing is beyond my comprehension.)

And as stupid as you may think consumers to be to confuse one device that clearly says Samsung while another has an Apple logo, according to Best Buy that mistake was made repeatedly, which is strong evidence in Apple's favour that Samsung knew this would happen and was banking on that behaviour.

And one final thing I feel compelled to point out... We are not in the jury. Our opinions on the matter have as much value as the dog manure that you accidentally step in on the sidewalk because we were too busy texting.

The fact that people are ready to pop a vein about it just makes me roll my eyes.

Fail icon. For certain people commenting on this and other similar articles. You know who you are.