Tech News Today 204

Tech News Today Episode 204

Tech News Today 204: There's An App Store For That

CTIA CEOs get catty, Steve Jobs goes to court, Sprint goes 3D, and more.

Hosts

• Tom Merritt (@acedtect)
  • TomMerritt.com
• Sarah Lane (@sarahlane)
  • SarahLane.com
• Nate Lanxon
  • wired.co.uk
• Jason Howell
  • JasonHowell.net

Topics

• Now Open: Amazon Appstore Launches With 3,800 Apps for Android
• Apple sues Amazon over App Store name
• Angry Birds Rio hits Apple and Amazon app stores
• Some Amazon Appstore Apps Require Rooting, AT&T Need Not Apply

• CTIA opening round table: Mostly talk about spectrum, with a few jabs
  • AT&T Wirless's President Ralph De la Vega said his company's interest in T-Mobile is all about spectrum and expanding coverage of 4G LTE services. (to which Sprint's Hesse quipped “I thought you (AT&T) and T-Mobile already had 4G,”)Verizon Wireless's CEO Dan Mead: "The underlying issue is about having a sound spectrum policy," he said. "We think there is a tremendous amount of competition in the market." Sprint CEO Dane Hesse: "My opinion doesn't matter," he said. "That's for the FCC and DOJ to decide." (afterwards he told reporters Sprint will file its concerns to Congress during the review.) --Sprint pays more to handset makers than any other carrier to subsidize the hottest phones. "We can afford to do a lot of things," Hesse said. "There's no question that subsidies will increase as devices get more powerful. But the good thing for us is that in smartphones there is higher ARPU [average revenue per user] The lack of available spectrum was also something that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski emphasized during his speech at CTIA right before the keynote panel. Genachowski noted that the FCC is currently working to free about 500MHz of wireless spectrum to be primarily used for wireless broadband in the next decade--a key recommendation that came out of the National Broadband report.
• Sprint, Verizon Diverge in Reaction to AT&T-T-Mobile Deal
• Sprint CEO Plans Appeal to Congress to Halt AT&T-T-Mobile Deal
• FCC Chairman Declines to Comment on AT&T-T-Mobile Deal, Talks Spectrum

• Samsung Introduces 8.9- and 10.1-Inch Galaxy Tabs Coming This Summer
• Samsung introduces Galaxy Tab 8.9, new "TouchWiz" UI skin
• Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 get some competitive price tags, starts at $469
• Also: Confirmed: Samsung SCH-i510 LTE phone to be named Droid Charge
  • Galaxy Tab 8.9-inch .5 millimeters thinner than the iPad 2. (8.6 millimeters) WiFi version The 16GB option is $469 and the 32GB $569. Available summer. Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch. WiFi version16GB version is set at $499 and the 32GB at $599 Available June 8. 1GHz dual core processor, TouchWiz UI, HSPA+ and WiFi versions. Also WiMax and LTE down the road. 1280x800 resolution

Discussion Stories

• Sprint Unveils 4G Tablet and a Phone Capable of Viewing 3-D Without Glasses
• Sprint makes EVO View 4G tablet official: 1.5GHz, WiMAX, 7-inch screen, and a stylus to boot
• HTC EVO 3D officially announced for Sprint
  • Sprint exclusive: HTC EVO 3D- 4.3-inch, glasses-free 3D display, 1.2 GHZ processor, WiMax, dual 5 megapixel cameras with a flash 'round back, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, support for 1080p video playback via the HDMI out (or 720p for 3D content), and Android 2.3 with Sense. Remember the HTC Flyer from MWC? Yeah wel;l Sprint has a US version -- remember it uses a Stylus! EVO View 4G is a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 Android tablet with a 1.5GHz processor, 5 megapixel rear- and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a WiMAX radio, and HTC's loving application of Sense for a UI. - The Evo View 4G will ship with 32GB of storage "this summer."

• Merger, Schmerger; T-Mobile Introduces new Devices at CTIA
• T-Mobile G2x from LG hands-on (video)
  • This could be a collector's item the Nokia Astound, with the soon-to-be-deprecated Symbian OS for the soon-to-be-sold T-Mobile coming April 6th for $80. T-Mobile announces the T-Mobile G2x - pretty much identical to its sibling, the LG Optimus 2X t but plain FroYo. Also different in that it supports HSPA+
• Here Come the First T-Mobile 42 Mbps Cities, Devices
  • T-Mobile with its network expansion plans for 2011. Today, the company announced the first three cities that will see 42 Mbps HSPA+ mobile broadband service: New York, Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida. This trio will be soon joined by Chicago and areas surrounding New York City area including Long Island and Northern New Jersey.

• Steve Jobs must face the music in court
• Jobs ordered to testify in FairPlay antitrust case
  • Lawyers for RealNetworks will get two hours to question Apple supremo Steve Jobs as part of an anti-trust case brought against iTunes. Judge Howard Lloyd of US District Court for Northern California said Jobs could only be questioned on relevant changes to software made in October 2004.

• Court rejects Google Books settlement

News Fuse

• Prepare to act shocked. China has denied that they are responsible for the troubles Gmail users have had in their country. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a news conference. "This is an unacceptable accusation." I'm sure Google is working on a more acceptable accusation.

• The streets of Germany are now open to Google's all-seeing eyes. According to Deutsche Welle, a Berlin court has ruled that it's legal for Google to take street-level pictures, striking down a lawsuit brought on by a German woman who sued Google over Street View and cited privacy and property rights.

• Google has awarded $1 million to Georgia Tech researchers so that they can develop simple tools to detect Internet throttling, government censorship, and other "transparency" problems. The project aims to develop a suite of Web-based, Internet-scale measurement tools that any user around the world could access for free, that would help determine if you're being spied on or throttled, or even just getting the access you paid for.

• According to Brazilian news site Born Dia Sao Paulo, Taiwan-based Foxconn is likely to establish a production line specifically for making Apple products in Jundiai City, Sao Paulo State. Foxconn did not deny their consideration of establishing a third production line in Jundiai where Foxconn has set up two production lines specifically for Apple and Sony products.

• The New York Times Paywall just got a little less permeable. Google will not be the only search engine to limit you to five free clicks into the news site. Times PR rep Kristin Mason said that after reviewing their options, NYT decided to extend the policy of five free clicks per day to all major search engines by the global launch on March 28. I blame the Canadians.

• But it turns out that a few lines of javascript can bring the whole paywall tumbling down anyway. Canadian coder David Hayes has just released NYTClean, a bookmarklet that, in one click, tears down the Times’ paywall by hiding a couple
  tags and turning page scrolling back on. OK Canadians, you're back in our good graces.

• You know how Amazon allows you to 'lend' your Kindle books (the Nook does too). Well apparently they don't want you to use it much. Amazon has cut off API access from lending service Lendle, which allowed Kindle users to list the lendable books they had purchased for perusal by other users. And because Lendle doesn't offer any other services, the owners have taken it offline until further notice.

• IBM said today it intends to acquire Las Vegas-based Tririga for an undisclosed amount, giving IBM software for managing a portfolio of buildings, including projects to improve building efficiency and lower carbon emissions. IBM said it is part of its strategy to give corporations better ways to manage their facilities and equipment. Tririga's applications will be part of IBM's Tivoli division of management software.

Kickers and Weird Science

• Experimental Batteries Charge In Minutes

Calendar

• Happy 80th birthday, William Shatner! (and happy Talk Like William Shatner Day, everyone else!)
• Microsoft begins distribution of 'NoDo' update to Windows Phone 7 handsets
• Tomorrow (Wednesday March 21) HP shareholders vote on new board members
• Northeast Linux fest on April 2, it will be at Worcester State University. Located in Worcester Massachusetts. It will start at 10:30 a.m. and the website is http://www.northeastlinuxfest.org
• Apple slinging iPad 2 to 25 more countries this Friday, even more next month
• BlackBerry PlayBook launching April 19, pre-orders start at $499 for 16GB

• Watch the TWiT studios get built

Voicemail

• Mike from Kansas: AT&T/T-Mobile handset dilemma

• Jeff from Columbus Ohio: Hey, I know that Pilot!
• Thanks to everyone who offered to help LTCMDR Adam Klein. He's well taken care of now!

Email

"Hello TNT Crew,

This is regarding the story about AT&T sending notices to those who use unauthorized tethering methods. There have been many posts in Macrumors and Modmyi.com from people who received the notice but claim they never tethered. Their data usage is high because of Pandora and Netflix streaming on their iPhone over 3G. When these people called AT&T to inquire, the Customer Service Rep said streaming on the iPhone itself is considered tethering! This goes against the definition of tethering, and it's ridiculous how AT&T is handling this. And now with their plan to merge with T-Mobile, I'm afraid AT&T will continue to strong-arm their customers more towards less services for more money. I'm depressed now, and it's only Monday.

The only thing to cheer me up is watching TNT everyday. At least until Comcast decides to lower their bandwidth caps. Sigh, there I go again.

Love the show! Tristan in Elgin, IL"

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Production Information

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