Re: enlighten us..

If you have a GPS receiver that can simultaneously interpret the signals from more systems than the standard GPS then you are more likely to get an accurate fix due to the higher number of visible satellites.

However, it might affect processing time for the first fix as it calculates the geometries etc from different systems especially if you can't use AGPS.

Re: Do no evil?

"Maybe Google can't just walk away from Android, but could they give it away to Oracle as part of damages?"

What friggin' planet are you on?

Just give away one of their most important technologies since search to a bunch of ambulance chasers that don't have a cat's hell in chance of walking away form this bogus lawsuit with anything more than their bus fare home.

Re: 'Award Winning'

In the slightly earlier days of the internet (although I'm sure they still exist today) you could go to a site and ask to be considered as a nominee for their award e.g. "Tech Superior Web Gold Award". Sometimes you'd have to pay for the nomination, sometimes you'd have to pay to be considered for the'gold' nomination often they were free to be nominated.

The point being you would always get a reply back a few days later saying something along the lines of "Our editor has reviewed your site and are please to award you their Tech Superior Web Gold Award". You could then display that on your site.

All a big 'harmless' con, and each party knew it, but it could raise your profile as an "award winning" site. The developer could tell the CEO that their site has won an award.

Re: Smells like... the dotcom years again!

Truly astonishing price, for sure. But the value might not be of the company itself but of the anti-value it may pose to Facebook.

It is a social network started from nothing that has gained popularity and a devoted following quickly - an inkling to investors that another social start up can become popular so quickly might cause the forthcoming stock price of Facebook to wobble.

If Facebook can prove that they can own the competition then it might give investors more confidence.

Re: The capacitive buttons: I'm curious...

You get an on-screen menu button like on the nexus but on its own in the middle.

Re: Have you all forgotten? They USED to be free...

Not quite. The problem was that a lot of companies started offering to connect you through to another number for a small fee by dialling their 0800 number.

Therefore - in the days before lots(any?) of free minutes, instead of paying your mobile company 25p per minute to call a number , you would ring an 0800 number and pay them 5p a minute. Of course the mobile company had to pay for the infrastructure and any other associated costs while the 0800 company profited.

The mobile firms would then shut down the 0800 services one-by-one, but in the end (with Orange being one of the few left) they gave up and charged for all 0800 calls except some charities.

SO unfortunately it was some mobile users who spoilt it for everyone as it was innevitable that it was going to happen.

Diverting a call

You can divert any number to any other number. If it is a fault with BT then it'll be free, if it is your fault then you'll pay a very small charge, so very poor reason.

If you aren't getting money for your Non-Geo company then use a different company - as long as you get quite a few calls in you'll get some cash.

Re: What is the source?

"Google can easily access and organize a database of trademarks around the world"

Easily? Bearing in mind trademarks don't have to be registered, the many people can have the same trademark in different sectors, the same trademark can be used in the same sector in different countries, etc...

Not quite so easy.

Re: Huh?

As there is now a lot more to lose now...

Oracle has has nearly all their patents invalidated on appeal, the 104 has been invalidated but is not yet 'final'. The final patent the '520 is not expected to apply and runs out soon.

The final claims are of copyright over the APIs (and the 11 unused files). Now this has a significant impact to the whole of the software industry, if Oracle were to win a claim in this area.

Google would not want to settle out of court unless there was a full admission that there was no infringement and the claims withdrawn with prejudice (difficult to make a settlement then). Oracle don't want to delay as there is a chance that there will be no patents left for them and therefore their purchase of Sun is written off to an extent.

An already shaky Oracle (in the eyes of some of its shareholders) would have to accept that the lawsuit was bogus, it has cost it millions, lost its 'prime' assets that they bought from Sun in the meantime and had to take regularly their eye off their core business for a couple of years. In this case they have put all their eggs in one basket because they have claimed that the six patents are the core patents that are worth nearly all the cost of the patent portfolio from Sun (so as to astronomically raise the potential damages of their claim). As these 6 are looking to be worth very little if anything then the whole portfolio is also worth very little.

You're right that the money is now (even admitted by Oracle) very little in the scheme of things Oracle's only hope is that they win the case on every count - they could then look at a claim of less than $50 million. This is by winning with a patent that has been invalidated (but not 'final') and claiming copyright on their APIs - unlikely. Even Oracle are unlikely to expect to win this.

This case is very similar to the SCO saga that wiped out the whole of SCO - and they do have something in common. Their lawyers are from that same 'maverick' firm - Boies Schiller.

Re: "Chrome catching IE slowly"?

Why don't you just set up company-wide permissions to not allow execution rights to the APP DATA folder for users?

Re: Gold in the hills

What a terrible business plan and it didn't work if they were stupid enough to think that. I mean, AOL, Compuserve, Mosaic all took the lead while Microsoft were starting to be seen as out of touch and irrelevant.

Why do you think car manufacturers show off advanced concept cars, and tech companies boast about products and markets not yet realised.

You don't keep quiet about the hills, sit in a valley and watch other's take the pickings then have to find another hill.

You tell the world that you own the hill, you have access to all the gold, you have the market sewn up and there is no point in trying as everyone will buy their gold from you anyway. You become the de-facto gold seller...

Re: Re: Real issue is

No but he did say

“The Internet? We are not interested in it.” in 1993

and

“I see little commercial potential for the Internet for at least ten years.” in 1994

before going head long into the internet in 1995 with a call to arms and the creation/purchases of MSN and Hotmail.

At the time most people using the internet knew it was going to be massive.

@AC 09:18 Re: Very Wrong.

No you do not - have you read the above posts - look at the one entitled "Anyone for the facts?"

The fact is, you do not need a TV licence unless you are watching or recording live or nearly live TV. Doesn't matter what equipment you have or what it is capable of. Doesn't matter what the BBC or TV Licensing try to tell you. End of story.

Re: Just a second

I don't think he is an Reg journalist - they use freelancers as well.

The figures are meaningless

They do not represent anything other than how little of the sale cost actually goes to those who create it and how they can afford to pass a greater percentage to other factories in other countries.

It is a cost per product so without knowing the number of employees, the number of products made etc then the article itself does not mean a lot as each employee will see only a few cents of that.

The questions to be asking are - is there an *exploitation* of those workers due to the lack of a welfare state that forces them to work in dangerous, sub standard conditions without adequate recompense due to the real and present danger that not working would mean 'real' and critical poverty (i.e. not Western definitions of poverty).

Also, should Apple consider whether a company that could have greater working standard with the same quality of manufacture would be worth paying $10 (or more) a unit for and take the hit out of their massive profits? If they can lose much more per unit in another country then perhaps, they could also do it in China?

Redstribution of wealth

I think the article is suggesting that seeing as the complete product is made there then Apple should be philanthropic and spread a little of its wealth back to the people who have helped make it so profitable.

However, Apple don't pay a dividend even to it's shareholders, so presuming they will pass some money charitably and on their own accord is fairly slim.

Rasberry Pi

That is decode only - encode was too expensive for them

Android doesn't use Java...

...it uses the Davlik VM and ASF Harmony libraries, and you do realise that Sun released most of Java as Free, Open Source under the GPL?

@NomNomNom

The pin device isn't important.

In fact you can use the pin pad from any other bank, they're an open standard. You could even use your Dutch friend's Pin Device from their Dutch Bank with your Barclays card/account (or Nationwide, or any other)

@Joefish - two-factor

Two-factor, in this case is something you have and something you know>

You have your bank card, you know your PIN. Therefore two-factor.

"That means that anyone in posession of those" - they must steal both your bank card and 'torture' you for your PIN - not your everyday purse snatcher or phisher? By then they have tied you up and been around the cash points for a few days nicking your money and buying high value goods.

Pay-per-view

But isn't this a pay per programme/movie rather than a monthly access pass?

Keep a power adapter in the safe?

Or you could just use a memory stick, or a CD or even stick a post it note in the safe!

Experts exchange...

Just scroll to the bottom of the page

All the 'answers' are sitting there waiting to be read.