Patent Wars

So this has been going on for years/months (I'm not sure which) but it's been getting a bit crazy right about now, so I thought I would have a little talk about it. Apple are a bit like Marmite when it comes to the internet; people either love them or hate them with a fiery passion.

Now I use an iPhone and yeah it's an okay phone, it does what I want and I like how it does it. It has a few problems, but what doesn't technology wise these days? I am in no way an Apple fan-boy, the iPhone is the only thing I own and yes, I agree they are overpriced for what they are but I don't mind paying for it because I think it's worth it.

However, I don't like Apple as a business... They make a lot of overpriced stuff and although I think (I may be wrong but don't kill me!) that the iPhone revolutionised what a smartphone was and brought them into the public spotlight, they haven't been the first to create a lot of what they claim and they are a bit crazy when it comes to enforcing patents...

Now I've never understood patents or copyrights, I'm a very sharing-is-caring kind of guy and think that although competition is good for innovation, so is sharing. Now I have a limited knowledge of the past to all this, the first thing I heard about anything was a lawsuit between Apple and Motorola concerning the slide to unlock function... Yes, it's that's stupid! I can't remember who won that but I think it was Apple?

The second lawsuit I know about all this was between Apple and Samsung concerning the Galaxy S and the iPhone 4/ iPad... Apparently the Samsung Galaxy stuff look mighty similar to the iPhone and iPad... I personally don't see this, but courts did and awarded Apple $1BILLION for patent infringement! Now I can't help but ask myself, why? You're a billion dollar company Apple, why do you need to sue people over stupid things? Slide to unlock functions and phones "looking similar", all of this just seems childish and a bit absurd...

Now Google and Android, who have connections with Samsung and Motorola are very annoyed about all this. Google bought Motorola and are now suing Apple and wish to stop the sale of Apple products in the US? I would say Apple bought this on themselves, but is this really a mature reaction? Patent laws are crazy and things like this will keep happening, with people suing each other into oblivion until there are no phones for anyone.

And as if that wasn't crazy enough, a company in China got their hands on some leaked photo's of the iPhone5, which Apple were hoping to announce in the coming weeks. They've banged out a quick copy (only China...) called the GooPhone I5 and are threatening to sue Apple if they release the coming iPhone in China...

My mind is just like... WHAT?! To all this... This is quickly getting out of hand, and honestly I think this will all end in Apple getting into serious trouble, if not going bankrupt. And they only have themselves to blame in all this! I honestly think this is bad... I didn't care much for Apple but honestly after using the iPhone1 almost 5 years ago I can't go back to using something else... People have told me that Android is better but I've invested a lot of money into my Apple product, through buying the phones and the apps, even recently going as far as purchasing some Hank Green on iTunes...

If Apple were to go bust, I (and many more people) would possibly be left with useless phones that wouldn't get serviced any more, wouldn't get upgrades any more, wouldn't get replaced or fixed if they broke any more... And I would hate that, I've paid a lot of money for my iPhone 4S and I don't want to see it become a brick that I can't use...

So I honestly hope that this gets sorted out soon before either Apple or Android become a thing of the past...

OUYA - The Cheap, Hackable Android Games Console For Your TV

In recent years, gaming has become subject to a growing trend in cheap, app-based gaming for your mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. It's a great, inexpensive way to get people playing games when they normally wouldn't. It's also a great way for existing gamers to experience something new and innovative However, ultimately I'm old school when it comes to gaming- I love my games on my TV, running from a console. Console hardware can often be expensive to purchase for consumers, and difficult to build games for for the developers.
Allow me, then, to introduce you to the OUYA- a cheap, hackable, Android-based games console, which plugs into your TV.



The people behind this up and coming device want it to flip the gaming industry on it's head, combining the ease of access and low cost that goes with both developing and purchasing Android-based games with what many will still feel is the best and proper way to play games- on your sofa in front of your nice, big HD TV (and surround sound would be nice, too).
The creators say that there will be a lot of free-to-play content featured, as the encourage anyone developing for the OUYA to make at least a portion of their games free-to-play, following in the footsteps of successful free-to-play games such as Team Fortress 2 and Leauge of Legends. It will also be hackable, allowing users to blow their OUYA wide-open and make it their own.
The OUYA will feature a Tegra-3 processor, 1GB of RAM, one USB and SD card slot, HDMI output, wifi and bluetooth, and will boast a nice-looking wireless controller.

The OUYA team opted to follow the Kickstarter program in order to fund its development. Bearing in mind they still have 28 days to go on their funding drive and need $950,000, they have already raised over $3.2 million.

To see what OUYA is all about, check out the video at the top of the page and visit their Kickstarter website.

Apptastic

Do you remember when my new phone showed up, then I wrote a post shouting about how brilliant it was? I do. It was exciting.

So I’ve had it a month now, and I’ve been fiddling about with different apps. I thought I’d give you the rundown of what I’ve been using lately. It’s like micro reviews, but I’m not giving them scores because you can assume they’re all decent. After all, if they weren’t I wouldn’t be still using them.

Onwards!

TweetDeck

There’s roughly a bazillion Twitter apps out there, but I consider this one to be the best. A quick swipe shows you your timeline, mentions and DMs, and posting videos or pictures is easy. (If you follow me on Twitter you’ve probably seen a sharp upswing of picture uploads from me). Good stuff.

Facebook

Self explanatory. It’s Facebook on your phone, you can do pretty much anything you can do on the web based version on your phone. My only quibble is that I can’t create a new photo album when I upload pictures, it all goes to Mobile Uploads. Plus, I haven’t found if I can tag people in pictures yet. Hmm.

Hotmail

Yeah I still use Hotmail. Hush. It’s handy for keeping up with your emails, especially if you have multiple accounts like I do. Only issue is that there doesn’t appear to be an option that allows you to reply to emails. Maybe a kind soul in the comments will help me?

Brightest Flashlight

Like it says on the tin, it’s a blummin’ bright flashlight. Handy for, well, when you need a torch. I’m not sure why it insists on making a weird boot up noise every time you use it, but ah well.

Plants vs. Zombies

The only app on this list I’ve actually paid for, so you know it’s good. There some issues with system crashes when I bought it, but EA got them smoothed out eventually. It’s almost a straight port of the PC version, but I am missing the minigames. I haven’t completed the main game yet, so let’s hope they’re unlocked afterwards.

Shazam

Shazam is a proper handy little app. If you don’t know about it already, it’s a program that will ‘listen’ to any music you happen across, then tell you the name of the artist and song. We were out at a club for Hulse’s birthday last Friday and I the thing out constantly. Sometimes it can’t get the song on the first try, but mostly it works. Plus, it keeps the results listed for you for when you’re back home. Cool.

Alarm Clock Xtreme

The only problem with my phone is that alarm is set at ‘OMGWTFBBQ’ volume level and had no apparent way of turning it down. This app is nice as it lets you fiddle with the settings to your heart’s content, even letting you disable the alarm by doing maths puzzles if you so wish. I like it because you can hit snooze by slapping anywhere on the touch screen.

Angry Birds

What is there to be said? It’s fun. Go play it.

Fruit Ninja

Also fun, Fruit Ninja lets you slice fruit by attacking it with your blade (i.e. finger). Very satisfying somehow.

IMDb

Basically a nifty compact version of the main site. Handy for people like me who’ll be sat at the cinema going, ‘Who is that actor? I KNOW THEM’. IMDb can quickly be checked and then I can carry on with my day.

Jewels

Bejeweled knockoff. Just as good and more importantly, free.

3G Watchdog

A nifty app that watches how much of your 3G allowance you’ve used, and keeps a tiny little tracker on your homepage to let you know how much you have left. There’s also a more complicated breakdown if you really want to look at it, but I just want it to shout at me before I go overboard.

Welcome to the future

Dear readers, I have joined the 21st century and acquired a smartphone.

Yes, that’s right; it really has taken me this long. I’ve been waiting eagerly for months for my old phone contract to expire, so this month with a song in my heart I kicked my crappy old Samsung to the curb and gave a home to a shiny new Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. I wasn’t really sure which phone I wanted until Monday Rich showed me his phone, and how it could be flipped open to play Playstation games like so:



Then he showed me Crash Bandicoot running on it, and that was it. Sold.

I’ve decided to do a rundown of my initial reactions to my shiny new toy, mainly because all I can think about is ‘YAY NEW PHONE!’ Please to enjoy.

Me: WHERE IS PHONE? The email said it’d be here hours ago!

Me: PHONE IS HERE OMG OMG OMG

Me: Let’s unbox everything, yay!

Me: I’m gonna charge it up first, in a rare show of sensibility.

A couple of hours later...

Me: YAY PHONE IS CHARGED

Me: *Boots up phone*

Me: Huh. Android is owned by Google. I did not know that.



Internet: Well, you’re the only one then.

Me: Shut up internet.

Me: *Transfers numbers to new phone* Huh, I don’t have as many friends as I thought I did.

Me: Oh well, less work to do here.

Me: LET’S GO ON THE INTERNET ON MY PHONE

Me: I’m on Facebook! Woooooo!

Me: NOW I’M GOING TO DOWNLOAD APPS.

Phone: I have a zillion Twitter apps.

Me: Oh God.

Matt: Just use the Tweetdeck one like you do on your computer.

Me: Fair point.

The next day...

Me: Look at all these new apps I have! I’ve got a pedometer, a notepad, a flashlight...

People: Do you have anything useful on it?

Me: Hell no. Although I do have Angry Birds now. I think it’s the law or something.



Rich: Here is the app that lets you play PSX games on your phone.

Me: I LOVE LIVING IN THE FUTURE.

Me: *Plays Tekken 3 until eyes start to bleed*

A few days later...

Me: Hey look, my Google calendar syncs up with Facebook on my phone. I will never miss an important event again!

Me: I can write to do lists on my phone now too with that notepad app!

Me: I AM GOING TO BE SO ORGANISED.

Me: I AM GOING TO BE THE MOST ORGANISED PERSON EVER.



Me: Why can’t I open this website on my phone?

Matt: Have you connected it to the house wireless network?

Me: I can do that?!

Matt: *Facepalm*