mobrec

So
What if we reviewed movies that same way that we review tablets? That is, don't rate them based on their own merits but always relative to some other popular movie, allow lots of subjective, unsupported assertions and conclude that popularity equals quality. So if we assume that Spiderman was the benchmark du jour, it might go something like this:

Avengers had quite a few popular characters in it, but the fatal flaw was that there was no Spiderman. However, everyone noted that many of the characters closely copied Spiderman in having an alternate identity, special powers and a snazzy costume, it was clear that these were to make the characters more like Spiderman, who is the leader in the super hero space. While the movie was entertaining, it just didn't have the same flow and 'ease of watching' that Spiderman did. And while we paid less to see the Avengers at a matinee, the quality of Spiderman clearly made it worth the extra ticket expense because everyone knows that Spiderman is just a higher quality product. We are sure that the Avengers might appeal to some people; we still believe that Spiderman is the best movie there is.

So
I've written before about mobile application privacy over-reach. Now there seems to be a whole genre of mobile applications that want *all* of your personal data in order to 'help' you through your day. You know, you are right, I think the number one thing that people want is someone (or something) to tell them what they should be doing all day and all night long. No, not really.

One of these apps that has been around a while is reqall's Rover. As is typical of the genre, it wants to suck in your contact info, keep fine grained GPS trails of your movements, harvest your info from social media sites like Facebook and twitter, etc. About the only useful feature I found that it provided was traffic conditions for commuting (but you can easily get that from any number of sites). One of the most annoying 'helpful' features it provided was trolling through the phone call logs an send alerts that I should call personX because I haven't talked to them in a while. More often than not it was a number for AAA roadside assistance or some such thing that I wouldn't have a need to call often.

Friday is another app that a co-worker pointed out to me. A quick visit to their web site had me scratching my head as to why I would ever want to run this app. This app sucks *all* of the information off of your phone into 'the cloud' and does so on a continuous basis throughout the day. It does this so it can 'help you remember' what you were doing at a particular moment. Right, or use all of that information to sell to marketing types or know when to rob you.

Saga is the latest of these apps I have seen. Whoo, I can see a list of places I have been during the week (like I couldn't do that with Google Latitude). Same tired 'check in' gambit – pooh and I get to earn 'experience points' for doing it. And restaurant recommendations based on what I always do! (as if I couldn't figure that out on my own. Same claims, same huge privacy issues. Do I really want some third party tracking my every move at all, let alone for the claimed 'benefits' to me?

Will Google Now be the one that gets this right? Privacy issues remain, but in many cases they probably have this information already so the issue of providing it to yet another third party is somewhat minimized. Also, some of the touted features don't make a lot of practical sense, like translation and currency. Works great if you have an unlocked phone AND can get roaming data at a less than rapacious rate; otherwise 'benefits' that won't see a lot of use. And then there is the fact that Google Now is only available on the very newest version of the Android OS that is on very, very few devices in the wild.

So
I recently came across a self-published book that I was interested in on Amazon. I noticed that it claimed that if I was an Amazon Prime member (I am) that I could get it 'for free'. I thought, great, a no risk way to satisfy my curiosity about the book. So I sign in so that Amazon can confirm that I am a Prime member. But, now it is telling me that I can get the book for 'free' if I buy a Kindle device – WTF? Sounds like good ole bait and switch to me.

So I started looking into magazines that I might be able to download and take on an upcoming trip. My Galaxy Tab 10.1 came pre-loaded with the Kindle viewer, so why not? Besides, I have been looking for a replacement for the brain-dead Zinio application. Many of the magazines that I wanted to buy were only available for the Kindle devices, not for the viewers on the other platforms. Again, WTF? Poking around on the site, I came across a lame excuse that 'not all of the content is licensed or optimized for all platforms' – great, so you are admitting that your reader software is a joke and you are really just trying to get people to buy your sub-par reader devices. Outstanding.

Apparently, Barnes & Noble's Nook doesn't have this ignorant limitation. If I buy a magazine for the Nook, I can view it on my wife's Nook, my Samsung S2 phone, my Galaxy Tab 10.1 or on the iPad and have pretty much the same user experience on all of them. So what is your excuse, Amazon? It doesn't appear to be a technical limitation if you competition can make it work. Just sounds like some ham-handed strong arming to try to push devices. Fix your content model, Amazon. The reality is, you have no motivation to do that at all, do you?

So
Hmm, iPad traffic dropping, Nook surpasses Kindle Fire. Kind of sorting itself out as expected – the Fire hasn't turned out to be the big game changer that all the pundits made it out to be. I had my doubts from the very beginning.

The new version of the iPad has been a bit of a dud; the much touted retina display just make the unit run really hot without providing a huge enhancement to the end user experience. The rest of the new feature were just to try to stay at parity with the competition and to continue to copy features from Android. It is no wonder that Apple have an army of lawyers running around the world trying to prevent Samsung's Galaxy Tab from being released – can't have people having real choice in the marketplace as they would likely not buy Apple's product.

And now that the Google Nexus 7 will soon be on the scene, I anticipate the Kindle Fire sinking even further. I'm not really surprised that most of the ground is being gained in the smaller form factor (7-8 inch screens) that all of the Apple fans crapped on so hard because, well, it wasn't the same as the iPad. Guess what, it looks like Apple is planning on 'innovating' a tablet in that space as well. Once again, innovated by Samsung and Google, copied in Cupertino.

As for the Microsoft Surface – I think it will do about as well as the Zune did.

So
The Springpad mobile app is the latest to get deleted due to application security overreach. You are (or were) a list making application – you do not, for any legitimate reason, need to be able to read (and remotely store, no doubt) my contact information. Deleted.

I hope you are working to make your web site accessible to mobile devices because that is what I will use from now on (if at all). Learn from your mistakes.

So
Set aside your chocolate bunnies and have fun with the tech version of the Easter Egg. Here is a long list to get you started.

So
For all of the 'experts' who piled on this one – as usual, you are wrong. The Mac OS X 'virus' is a flaw in Java NOT the Mac.

I love the open remarks from the linked post:

When a computer incident happens on Apple’s Mac OS X, it’s a headline-making event. When it happens on Windows, it’s just another day.

That remains the reality, even after a bunch of media reports on how a vulnerability in Java has led to the creation of a Mac botnet about 600,000 strong.

Oh, and if you found this posting because you have or think you might have the 'virus' here is an excellent write up on how to determine if you are impacted and how to fix it.

So
I have struggled with the Zinio magazine app for about a year now on several different devices. The device I use the most is my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it has the best form factor for e-magazine reading. I just can't believe how wide of the mark that Zinio has fallen.

First of all, here is what Zinio thinks it is (from zinio.com):

Zinio is more than a mobile reading application. We've spent the last decade creating the digital editions of the magazines you love, delivering the exact same material you get in print‚ plus exclusive features like video, audio and live links, on your iPad, iPhone, desktop and laptop.

No, Zinio, all you are is a reading app (and not a very good one). Things that I would expect to do (and can do in other reading apps) like search, highlight, take notes, bookmark, et al are all missing from your application. When I open the application, I want to be returned to where I left off reading, not to my library or even worse, your shopping app where you waste my bandwidth displaying stuff I didn't ask for in the first place. And I have yet to see a publication with 'exclusive video and audio'.

All of the things I listed above I can do with a physical magazine but not with your supposedly enhanced electronic version. The one thing I can do with Zinio that I can't do with a physical magazine is follow links. But you manage to get that hopelessly wrong as well.

I mean, why, oh why, when I click on a link in a magazine you insist on taking me to your walled-garden browser where I can't save the URL or basically have access to any browser functions other than viewing? Why not just open the link in the browser on the tablet? Or at least give me the option of choosing? I actually reported this as a bug and got several nonsensical answers back that never addressed the issue.

Me: “Zinio app needs to allow the user to use the browser built into the tablet and not the broken walled-garden browser that zinio forces you to use. the zinio browser lacks much functionality and is a real nuisance to use (and is completely unnecessary)“

Zinio: “_Zinio does not have a browser.

Zinio has an app.

If your device browser does not support Flash, you will not be able to read your magazines through Zinio's website. You must, then, use the app._”

This seems to demonstrate a complete failure to apprehend what I was asking about. So I tried again:

Me: “You are wrong. I run the reader on an Android tablet using the Android version of the Zinio application. When I click on a link inside of a publication in Zinio it does not launch the tablet's browser, it opens a minimally functional browser window that is part of the Zinio application. This broken version of the zinio browser does not allow any of the function of the native browser. Users need to have the option to run the full featured browser. There is no reason I can see why this shouldn't be the case.“

Zinio: “_Zinio does not have a browser or an Android Reader.

Zinio has an Android app. The app does not integrate with any browser._”

In frustration, I finally responded: “You are a bit of an idiot and keep repeating yourself. Perhaps you should pass this on to someone with a better understanding of both the Zinio Android application and customer service.“

Here endith my attempt as a customer to be heard by Zinio.

So I guess it is safe to say that your dubious product is matched by your equally dubious support function as well.

Well, Zinio, do you recognize these obvious issues and have a plan to fix them? Or should I just anticipate you going out of business in a few years and seek alternatives?

So
The amount of attempted privacy over-reach in mobile apps is approaching appalling. The number of mobile applications either out of the box or via subsequent updates that require the privilege to access (and in some cases upload) your contacts from your device is growing. In most cases it seems the same reason is given for this invasive action: it is for *your* convenience. Meh. It is unnecessary, plain and simple. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp, Linkedin, Path, Gowalla and others all do this – with or without your permission or knowledge. I mean, why would an application that is supposed to serve as a remote control for you TV need access to you contacts?

Second to the contacts grab is the gratuitous need to have fine grained location information for no apparent reason. For example, why would an application that identifies music need your fine location to work? What does that have to do with music recognition? It seems to be just collecting data for the sake of collecting it.

It is beginning to get even more obnoxious. Some web-based services are not allowing users to create their own username and passwords. Rather they try to force you to log in using your Twitter or Facebook accounts. And with few exceptions they require access to your contacts and other inappropriate information. Some applications (typically browser) are taking this approach. This is even more heinous as now not only do they have your contact information they have a record of every site you visit and every keystroke that you type into every site that you visit. Think about that before you run something like RockMelt.

Be aware of what permissions sites and applications 'require' and don't be afraid to say no. After all, it is your data that is being given away. And once it is gone, chances are you'll never get it back or get it deleted.

So
Further proof of bogosity of the (previously discussed) idiot-punditry that claimed that Android tablets were 'failures' because of perceived security issues: Samsung has a number of Android-based tablets that have received FIPS security certification. Now there are some facts.