Last Friday night, California’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team entered editor Jason Chen’s home without him present, seizing four computers and two servers. They did so using a warrant by Judge of Superior Court of San Mateo. According to Gaby Darbyshire, COO of Gawker Media LLC, the search warrant to remove these computers was invalid under section 1524(g) of the California Penal Code.
How do you think this is all going to shake down? Should California file criminal charges? Should Apple file civil charges?
EEDAR vice president of analyst services Jesse Divnich is the latest RPad.tv PadCast guest. My favorite analyst in the business discusses all sorts of videogame topics, answers reader questions, and reveals the super power he covets in this clip. Here’s the laundry list of talking points:
The Nintendo 3DS
Whether the PSPgo is a dead system
How awesome Sony’s E3 press conference would be if it were hosted by Kevin Butler
How the Apple iPad impacts the gaming market
Whether investors and venture capatilist have cooled on the console market in light of the hotness of mobile and social gaming
Whether Sega, as we once knew and loved it, is gone forever
DLC trends
E3 2010 predictions
What’s coming on 10/10/10
What super power he would chose and why
Give it a look, give it a listen, and leave any comments you have below.
Of course David Letterman would cover this on The Late Show. Ha! Some of the gags are really funny. I love the AT&T knock and the Kindle joke was amusing.
Check out this “Top 10” video and let me know what you think!
First off, I want to make it clear that I really enjoyed Gizmodo’s coverage of the next Apple iPhone. For those of you not familiar with how it went down, the site acquired an iPhone prototype that was lost at a Bay Area bar. It pounced on the opportunity to write a story and produce videos on the biggest Apple scoop of the year. That all seems normal, right? Where it gets murky is the fact that Gizmodo paid money for the iPhone prototype.
Gawker editor Nick Denton said that the company paid $5,000 for the device, with some reports claiming that additional fees were to be paid if certain traffic goals were met.
That’s a pretty hefty sum, but considering the tremendous amount of traffic the story has generated, it’s probably worth it…until California law is considered. The Guardian noted this tidbit of California civil code that can be applied to the situation (the iPhone situation, not Jersey Shore‘s The Situation):
Any person or any public or private entity that finds and takes possession of any money, goods, things in action, or other personal property, or saves any domestic animal from harm, neglect, drowning, or starvation, shall, within a reasonable time, inform the owner, if known, and make restitution without compensation, except a reasonable charge for saving and taking care of the property.
Obviously the person that “found” the iPhone prototype is in the wrong, but is Gizmodo also in the wrong for buying the device? The Guardian cited California Penal Code 496 PC:
This means that even if you weren’t aware at the time that you received the property that it was stolen (but later learned or suspected that fact), you must immediately contact the owner of the property or the police to avoid prosecution.
The bad news (for Gizmodo) is that the law seems to be against them. The good news is that Apple has had a tough time suing bloggers in the past.
I want to know what you think about the whole deal. Was Gizmodo merely doing its job? Or did the site cross a line?
Last week Engadget came across a phone that could possibly be a prototype for the next iPhone (4G?). Several tech enthusiasts were curious about its glass panel. While the enclosure would look sleek, it wouldn’t be the best for signal transmission. Daring Fireball received a note from its reader that suggests that it might be ceramic rather than glass:
But, reader Antoine Hebert emailed with this 2006 Apple patent, for high-durability ceramic enclosures. Glass-like appearance and feel but far stronger and more scratch resistant. And: radio transparent.
Apple has always been forward thinking with the materials it uses. So it wouldn’t be surprising if the company started a ceramic phone craze. Along with the other rumored specs, I’m pretty psyched for the next iPhone. Looks like it’s time to get rid of my 32GB 3GS!
As many of you know, Apple announced details on iPhone OS 4, which will be available in Summer 2010. There are several new features included in this release. The bigger ones have been dubbed “tent poles” (which makes me laugh…even though it shouldn’t). Here are the major features and my take on them.
Multitasking — This is way overdue. As wonderful as the iPhone UI is, the lack of multitasking is a deal breaker for some users. Apple promises that its implementation of multitasking will be intuitive and natural. Considering how easy-to-use the iPhone OS already is, I’m sure that will be the case.
Folders — This isn’t a big deal for me, since I usually only keep three pages of apps on my phone. However, I know a lot of people with ridiculously cluttered iPhones. For users like them, this is a godsend.
Enhanced Mail — This feature is also overdue and most welcomed. I’m currently juggling three email accounts that I use frequently. There are two other ones that I use every week or so. For business users, being able to sync to multiple exchange accounts is extremely powerful. Come to think of it, I use the Exchange method for syncing my Gmail contacts. Should I get a job at a company that uses Exchange (i.e. most places), it would be excellent to have both.
iBooks — Some people are thrilled with this feature, but not me. I will not read books on my iPhone. If I had an iPad, I probably wouldn’t read them on it either. I love the E-Ink display on my Amazon Kindle. It’s so easy on the eyes and comfortable to view for hours. I don’t understand people that prefer a backlit LCD/LED screen over E-Ink for reading.
Game Center — Achievements for iPhone games? Sure, why not?!? I know a few of you are Xbox 360 Achievement whores. Having those type of rewards implemented in the iPhone games ecosystem would make things more addictive and keep people playing. At the very least, I’m sure it will be a much smoother and more interesting implementation than what Nokia tried to do with the N-Gage platform.
Enterprise Features — RIM is the undisputed king of business smartphones with its BlackBerry line. Along with multiple Exchange account support, these features should have RIM more than a little scared. In the short term, BlackBerry will still dominate enterprise use, but its OS is falling way behind iPhone, Android, and others.
Some of you already started talking about iPhone OS 4 in Coffee Talk, but I’d love to continue the conversation here. What do you think of iPhone OS 4’s features? What tent poles excite you the most (*snicker*)? Are any of the minor features (spell check, enhanced wallpapers, etc.) interesting to you? Do you think not being able to multitask on devices before the iPhone 3GS is the real deal or a cheap way to get people to buy new iPhones/iPods? Chat it up at your earliest convenience (please)!
Technically, it’s coffee time where I am so the column name still applies. Ha! As expected, jet lag is totally kicking my ass. I didn’t believe in jet lag for the first 25 years of my life. I thought it was a sissy excuse for tired people. Then I did a quick work trip to Tokyo and was disoriented for several days after I returned. For all of you younglings reading this, it only gets worse as you get older.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Jim Carrey’s next girlfriend, Fusion Garage’s JooJoo tablet, or the Yankees and Red Sox taking 12 hours to complete three games, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Technically, it’s coffee time where I am so the column name still applies. Ha! As expected, jet lag is totally kicking my ass. I didn’t believe in jet lag for the first 25 years of my life. I thought it was a sissy excuse for tired people. Then I did a quick work trip to Tokyo and was disoriented for several days after I returned. For all of you younglings reading this, it only gets worse as you get older.
Anyway, gaming has been great with trying to deal with jet lag. Some people just stare at the ceiling until they fall asleep. I find EV training in Pokemon productive and repetitive, which usually helps me catch some Z’s. This trip I’ve been playing the hell out of Civilization Revolution for iPhone. Yes, I’ve played the game essentially the same way for over a thousand times, but I still love it. The repetition is soothing and it helps me relax.
When you guys and gals deal with jet lag or insomnia, what do you do? Is there a certain game you play? Maybe a graphic novel you bring with you on the road? How about web browsing on your phone? Let me know (please)! Maybe I’ll incorporate your techniques into my jet-lag fighting regimen.
Apple will be revealing details on iPhone OS 4 on Thursday, April 8. Millions of iPhone users around the world will be psyched to learn about all the new features coming to their beloved handsets. Until then, I want to hear your predictions! What do you think Apple is unveil on Thursday? Multitasking? The ability to blend and run Crysis at the same time? Let me know (please)!
One of my sources at an Apple Store told me that the shop’s supply of iPads is being guarded by armed security. Don’t even think about trying to lift one early from an Apple Store! You don’t want to incur the wrath of Darth Jobs. Or is he Emperor Jobs?!?
It looks like iPad users will have to pay for major OS updates, similar to how iPod Touch users have to pay for them. Daily Tech took a look at the documentation that accompanied the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK and came to the following conclusion:
With the iPad, Apple is following a rather unique approach. It will be giving users one freebie — a single major OS upgrade. After that users will be on their own and will be forced to pay to upgrade the OS. Upgrades will likely be priced similar to those on the iPod Touch, at about $10.
Some potential iPad owners are outraged by this development, wondering why they should pay for OS updates. Others look at the precedent set by the iPod Touch and don’t care.
How do you feel about the matter? Should “major” OS updates be free? Or is $10 a pop acceptable?
