Cranking out news for the geeks, music buffs and gossip junkies, my way. -Greg

Gizmodo did a 12 city 3G data test and AT&T won more than any other, with Verizon falling 2nd overall. Gizmodo tested 12 different cities across the US each was tested for speed. Although download speed was AT&T 6 out of 12 times, the upload was AT&T all 12. This was not however based on customer service or call quality, etc. I would openly admit that AT&T’s customer service sucks, but I honestly don’t have to ever deal with them, other than when I got my phone wet, which was my fault. So I guess waiting for AT&T’s first Android phone might be the best idea. -Greg

Gizmodo test cities:

Atlanta – AT&T, followed by Verizon
Bay Area/San Francisco – AT&T, followed by Verizon
Chicago – AT&T, followed by Verizon then Sprint
Denver – AT&T, followed by Verizon
Las Vegas – Verizon, followed by AT&T
Los Angeles – AT&T, followed by Sprint
Maui – Verizon, followed by AT&T
New York – AT&T, followed by T-Mobile
Phoenix – Verizon, followed by T-Mobile
Portland – T-Mobile, followed by Verizon
Seattle – Verizon, followed by T-Mobile
Tampa – Sprint, followed by AT&T

Full Gizmodo story

Going through my normal bunch of emails from different tech sites I subscribe too, I came across this interesting article at GIZMODO. Basically its a set of unofficial guidelines that I think everyone should have to read and sign before being allowed to enter a movie theater. What do you think about them? -Greg

Article from GIZMODO

Most of us already know that it’s NOT socially acceptable to talk during a movie. But to those of us who weren’t born in a barn, these rude movie-goers are still a constant burden. It’s time to fight back, dirty.With Avatar in theaters, the stakes are simply too high to risk losing a film to some pudgy fat boy film school drop out who is convinced his personal commentary is just as important as the countless hours of work that have gone into the filmmaking process.

The following are a list of rules and responses that I feel, as a society, we need to deem socially acceptable to assimilate into our communal fabric.

6-Inch Voices, Or Group Humiliation
I know I’m coming off rude already. The occasional quiet comment to the person beside you, that’s totally fine by me. But If I can hear you from over two seats away, chances are, you need to shut the fuck up (throughout life, possibly, but definitely in the theater). If a person makes loud comments that a single “shhh” doesn’t thwart, everyone around them should stand, point and loudly ask them to leave (with liberal use of expletives). It’ll be a painful, distracting experience, but chances are, it won’t be needed again.

Really, It’s OK To Tell People to Shut Up
I know I just made this point, but I want to make it abundantly clear: telling talkers to shut up is OK. You are doing all of the shy, weak and first daters who want to enjoy a movie but not lose out on a potential post-film grope a huge favor. Let’s just make an oath, right now, to support one another against the talkers, be they intimidatingly muscley or not. Let’s acknowledge a silent brotherhood, poised to attack at the slightest breach of conduct.

Read more

I can’t say it enough how impressed I am with Android and for those of you who still just don’t quite get it, I want you to take a moment and read this article from the guys at Gizmodo.com. Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! -Greg

So Wait, What Is Android, Exactly?

In Google’s words, it’s “the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.” That doesn’t mean much, so here’s a breakdown: It’s a Linux-based, open-source mobile OS, complete with a custom window manager, modified Linux 2.6 kernel, WebKit-based browser and built-in camera, calendar, messaging, dialer, calculator, media player and album apps. If that sounds a little sparse, that’s because it is: Android on its own doesn’t amount to a whole lot; in fact, a phone with plain vanilla Android wouldn’t feel like a smartphone at all. Thankfully, these phones don’t exist.

Android is Linux insofar as its core components are open-source and free, and Google must publish their source code with every release. But the real heart of the Android phone experience—the Google apps like Maps, GChat, Gmail, Android Market, Google Voice, Places and YouTube are closed-source, meaning Google owns them outright. Every Google phone comes with these apps in one form or another so to the user this distinction isn’t that important. That said, it occasionally rears its head, like when Android modder Cyanogen had to strip the apps out of his custom Android builds to avoid getting sued by Google:

The issue that’s raised is the redistribution of Google’s proprietary applications like Maps, GTalk, Market, and YouTube. They are Google’s intellectual property and I intend to respect that. I will no longer be distributing these applications as part of CyanogenMod.

This can lead to more mainstream (and confusing) issues, like with the, erm, touchy (sorry!) multitouch issue: Android OS supports multitouch, in that it can recognize multiple simultaneous input points on its screen. But Google’s Android apps don’t. So when a company like HTC comes along and decides to properly add multitiouch to the OS, they can only add it to the open-source parts, like the browser (or their own closed-source apps), not Google’s proprietary apps. That’s why the Hero has pinch-zoom in its browser and photo albums but not in Google Maps, where it’s just as at home.

The issue gets even less trivial as the apps grow more central to the Android experience. You know how Google Maps Navigation was, like, the banner feature for Android 2.0? Well, it was, but technically speaking, it’s not a part of Android. It’s just part of an app made by Google for Android, and that’ll ship with most Android handsets. Except for in countries where Google doesn’t have their mapping data quite together enough, where it won’t. That’s what’s happening with the Euro Droid, which, by the way, does have multitouch in its browser, like the Hero. That’s why the distinction matters.

So, why take so much care to set up and protect this open source component, when surely Google could just slap together a closed-source mobile operating system and give it away for free, right? It would deprive handset manufacturers of their ability to freely modify certain core components of the OS, sure, but the real reasoning, oddly enough, has less to do with phones and more to do with, well, everything else.

Read the rest of this article at Gizmodo.com

If  your already on Verizon, lucky, and your looking for a new phone, your going to buy Droid. If you don’t buy a Droid then I’d have to say you shouldn’t be allowed to make your own decisions anymore. -Greg

A year ago, Android was an unfinished OS for nerds, bursting with potential. With Android 2.0, it’s evolved into something sleeker, more refined and focused—but still something not quite human.

Over the last year, Android’s evolved more rapidly and appeared in more shapes than any other smartphone OS. Every major update has made Android more capable and advanced, while custom interfaces from companies like HTC and Motorola, mean it’s constantly and continually shifting shapes. When you look at the bucket of bolts everybody started with, some of the oh-so-shiny end results were kind of amazing. Android 2.0 blows all of that away, and lays down a platform for the next year that’s wildly more compelling, even as it retains a lot of the same fundamental weaknesses.

..READ THE FULL REVIEW AT GIZMODO