Rogers Fails Android Users AGAIN!!

WOW!!  Rogers (Rogers is a Canadian mobile phone/cable tv provider)  has really been failing their subscribers lately. First they have a  911 GPS issue on BOTH the Magic and the Dream.  Okay, not a big deal just push a fix and go on right?  Wrong!

Rogers tells everyone they  MUST install the patch by 6:00am EST on 1/24/10 or their internet access will be temporarily suspended ( http://bit.ly/7umNGy ).  Well in the biggest fail of them all they pushed out the fix on 1.5 taking anyone who had custom ROMs back to 1.5. With this they disabled the existing root path eliminating the possibility of putting custom ROMs back on the phone.  In a conversation with one Rogers customer he ended up losing at least 3 apps, including Google Goggles.

As a very poor consolation the new 1.5 was pushed with HTC's Sense UI.  As nice as the Sense UI is I would be pissed if my OS was downgraded and I couldn't fix it.

Wonder what Rogers subscriber base is going to look like in the next six months.

Theft of Android Apps

If you know of any developer's or know the support email for any paid apps you have please send them the following information or send them here.

http://www.mediafire.com/thakidtok is hosting HUNDREDS of paid apps for free download.  The email for www.mediafire.com is abuse@mediafire.com.  The site is hosted by DNSMadeeasy.com
 DNS Made Easy 
Tiggee LLC
PO Box 145
Oakton, VA 22124

 The site is registered thru godaddy.com.  Please be sure that the developer's you know see this so they can file a DMCA takedown notice with Mediafire and DNSMadeeasy so they can get paid for their apps they worked so hard on.  

The files are being put up by Twitter user @thatkidtok.


EDIT:  Here is a link to some information on how to submit a DMCA notice:  http://www.hooverwebdesign.com/articles/how-to-file-a-dmca-copyright-violation.html

Disney killing free NASCAR

I was watching ESPN the other night and they were talking about the upcoming NASCAR broadcast schedule.  9 of the 10 Chase races will be moved off of the free ABC network feed to the paid ESPN channel.  They are moving several of the "regular" season races to ESPN as well. By doing this Disney can theoretically make more money on the broadcasting of the NASCAR races.  By broadcasting on ESPN those NASCAR fans that do not have cable will either miss the races or have to get cable.  ESPN makes money off of every subscriber that every cable and satellite company has. (And they charge ALOT for the right to carry ESPN)

Now this doesn't really have any affect on me since I have ESPN.  But it does go to show how much power Disney has and how major media companies can control what and how we watch television.  It would not surprise me at all to see the major media companies move all live sporting events to their cable networks over the next 5-10 years to guarantee more income from those show.

HTC Hero Gets 2.1 in February

I read an article at www.androidguys.com earlier and they were quoting sources that the HTC Hero in Europe will start receiving the 2.1 upgrade in the middle of February.  I am happy for them.  Now to us Sprint Hero owners, what about us?   This announcement that the Euro Hero getting the 2.1 update next month is very promising.  I read at one point last month that the Sprint Hero was getting an update to the Sprint Navigation app in the middle of February 2010.  Hmm, Europe 2.1 mid Feb, Sprint nav update mid Feb.  Are you seeing what I am?  It's not hard to form an opinion that the Sprint Hero will get the 2.1 update in February as well.

Now granted this takes that we are assuming a few things.  We have to assume that Sprint knew approximately when HTC would have Sense UI ready for 2.1 and they were able to get their developers to have the navigation app ready to put into the ROM when HTC needed it.  Obviously since HTC built the NexusOne they have had their code writing paws on 2.1 for some time now.  Now granted I could be assuming a lot, but hey, isn't it fun to try and guess what's going on?

Avatar 3D in Your Home

I read some very good articles today.  What I previously thought was going to be is not.  Samsung has announced a deal with RealD to use RealD 3D in their TVs.  JVC and Sony are reportedly working on deals with RealD as well.  This is a very good thing.  Why?  RealD uses a passive 3D technology.  By Sony, Samsung and JVC using it in their TVs it will mean lower priced glasses for us to use in our homes.  The RealD glasses used in the theater are rumored to cost in the area of $0.65.  We will probably end up paying $20-30 for them but that is still cheaper than the $100 active technology glasses used by other 3D companies.  

The second bit of 3D news today is that ESPN and Discovery Channel both announced 3D channels in the works.  ESPN will launch by this summer.  Scheduled for transmission - 2010 World Cup Soccer and the 2011 BCS National Championship game.  I can't wait to see what Discovery is going to come up with.  Their Planet Earth series in HD was amazing.  Anything is 3D by them should be just mindblowing.

VOIP - Voice Over Internet Protocol

I was trying to help out someone on Twitter tonight with what VOIP is and it is to big of a topic for Twitter.  So focus111, this is for you.  

VOIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol is a process where voice can be turned into a tcp/ip packet and sent over a data network to what is known as a "soft" switch.  The "soft" switch will then convert the packet into a standard telephony packet and send it to the local telephone carrier of the destination.  At that point depending on who the other persons carrier is will depend on what happens with it.  With a Bell company (Verizon, AT&T, ect.) the data is run through a standard telephony switch and sent down twisted pair lines to a home.  If the back end of the call is a cable company(not all do it this way) the packet is sent to a private data network and sent to the persons home as a VOIP packet. If the back end of the call is a company like Vonage and Skype the packet is sent through a soft switch and sent over the internet to the customer via their ISP.

VOIP has a significant cost advantage over standard (circuit switched) telephone.  A soft switch is nothing more than a computer with VOIP software on it.  

What will be interesting this year is when Google relaunches Gizmo5.  Gizmo5 will give Google a way of providing dialtone over VOIP.  This could mean that all you will need is a Google Voice account and a cell phone with an unlimited data plan and you will no longer have to worry about minutes.  There has been rumors about how Google was going to launch the Nexus One with only data capabilities.  This would be pointless unless you had a way of getting dialtone (Vonage, Skype, Gizmo5).  So until Google relaunches Gizmo5 I don't see a data only phone hitting the market.  One thing is trying to get this past the cell carriers.  They are making a killing on what they are charging for minutes.