Prose Hacking

Wireless Says “MVNO” To Resellers, Residential Broadband Just Says No

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:55:23 -0400

Wireless Says “MVNO” To Resellers, Residential Broadband Just Says No:

A funny thing happened at the wireless-industry trade show that the big carriers blew off: I didn’t lack for wireless services to write about.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to ask what can seem like a dumb question: Why is it that wireless carriers have no hang-up about letting other companies resell their capacity, while most wired broadband Internet providers blanch at the thought of such a thing?

At CTIA, smaller phone vendors take center stage

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:01:46 -0400

At CTIA, smaller phone vendors take center stage:

Smaller companies dominated announcements at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas.

Two days ago, I was worried that I wouldn’t have any news to write about from the CTIA 2013 show in Vegas. Then one big company put a celebrity on stage, while a lot of smaller ones committed actual news. Here’s my attempt to make sense of it all for USA Today.

Xbox One: So That's Why 'Xbox' Sounds So Vague : DNews

Tue, 21 May 2013 20:24:30 -0400

Xbox One: So That's Why 'Xbox' Sounds So Vague : DNews:

Microsoft’s just-announced Xbox One aims to make this don’t-call-it-a-game-console something much more: a general-purpose home entertainment system that even displaces your standard cable or satellite interface. But the task of building hardware that can control every cable and satellite box has already defeated the best efforts of Google and others. Can Microsoft do better?

Q&A: What's the best basic Windows photo program?

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:16:00 -0400

Q&A: What's the best basic Windows photo program?:

This week’s USAToday.com Q&A returns to a subject I haven’t addressed in a while, photo-album apps. I was not too thrilled to see that the issues I whined about in 2010 persist in the two leading apps for Windows—even as smartphone photo apps have been in a hothouse evolutionary phase.

But enough about me. What’s your pick for a Windows photo-album app?

Google’s I/O News: A Reminder Of How Apps Don’t Just Write Themselves

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:01:55 -0400

Google’s I/O News: A Reminder Of How Apps Don’t Just Write Themselves:

SAN FRANCISCO–The second most-important company at Google’s I/O developer conference wasn’t there: Apple.

A wonky post on what Google’s I/O news suggests about its priorities in nurturing the Android app ecosystem—and what a job it has to overcome some lingering advantages of Apple. Will be a minor miracle if the piece doesn’t draw the usual “Android sucks! No, iOS sucks!” flame war in comments.

Google Probably Knew About This Post Before Me : DNews

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:35:37 -0400

Google Probably Knew About This Post Before Me : DNews:

The short version of Google’s lengthy I/O keynote: Let’s tell the future.

So much of the future that Google executives sketched out to open the company’s I/O 2013 developers conference depends on its software correctly sussing out what you want and worry about—and you not minding this man-machine mind-meld. Do you?

Will spam calls ever stop?

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:27:33 -0400

Will spam calls ever stop?:

Question. How am I still getting spam calls,? Will they ever stop? Answer. The enactment of the federal Do Not Call list has not put telemarketers out of business…

A question on my neighborhood’s mailing list about a new round of clearly illegal spam calls led me to devote this week’s USAToday.com column to the Do Not Call list, how it works and how often people complain about violations of it.

Group-Playback Apps Let You Choose Your Own Copyright Adventure

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:55:41 -0400

Group-Playback Apps Let You Choose Your Own Copyright Adventure:

The play button is getting yet another upgrade from the Internet: the ability to function in sync across multiple devices.

A few new apps let you use the Internet as speaker wire, playing a song through other people’s devices at the same time that you’re enjoying it on your own phone or computer. Is that legal? It depends!

SideCar Approaches A Regulatory On-Ramp

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:56:25 -0400

SideCar Approaches A Regulatory On-Ramp:

Can SideCar get a lift from the District of Columbia, or is it only going to get taken for a ride?

A longer post about the regulatory climate the SideCar ride-sharing service faces in Washington, D.C., where the taxi commission says it’s illegal and its CEO says it’s, at worst, “not illegal.”

Why hang on to your unlimited data plan?

Sun, 05 May 2013 11:33:54 -0400

Why hang on to your unlimited data plan?:

Question. I’ve got an unlimited-broadband wireless plan, one that my carrier doesn’t offer anymore. How can I keep that?

This week’s USAToday.com column offers a possibly heretical thought: Do you actually need the unlimited wireless plans that some users struggle to hold on to? (I got the idea for it after hearing from one local tech-policy type explain how he’d just bought a Galaxy Nexus on eBay to keep his unlimited Verizon plan.) The piece also throws in a reminder about keeping a spare charging cable handy.

Government To Industry: Secure Your Systems, But Also Make Them Easy To Wiretap

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:45:41 -0400

Government To Industry: Secure Your Systems, But Also Make Them Easy To Wiretap:

You can’t blame tech companies if they feel a little confused about Washington’s security priorities this week.

At the same time Washington has been pushing private industry to strengthen its online system against hacking attempts, some law-enforcement agencies also want them to ease a particular kind of hacking attempt: government wiretapping. The problem is, it’s rarely only the good guys who attack a failure mode added to an encryption system—and there’s nothing to stop the bad guys from using overseas-hosted communications tools exempt from these proposed rules.

How to keep your computer 'awake'

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:38:18 -0400

How to keep your computer 'awake':

Change a few settings in Windows to stop a PC from shutting down unexpectedly.

This week’s USA Today Q&A recounts two recent episodes of computer troubleshooting: a relative’s confusion over Windows kicking him back to the password prompt after just a minute of inactivity, and how my adventures yanking the remnants of a registry-speedup app confirmed my distrust of those utilities.

Resolved: Competing Over Pocket-Sized Screen Resolution Has Gotten Out Of Hand

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:59:04 -0400

Resolved: Competing Over Pocket-Sized Screen Resolution Has Gotten Out Of Hand:

By a year or so ago, the leading smartphone vendors could have jointly hoisted a “Mission Accomplished” banner–by then, they’d all succeeded in shipping displays with as much resolution as humans could hope to discern.

Smartphone resolutions have improved enormously since the 120-by-160 pixel display of my first color-screen phone, the Motorola T720—but now that displays are exceeding the capability of human eyes to discern their individual pixels, I think it’s time the industry found something else to obsess over. But will this piece only get me cranky e-mails saying I need glasses to appreciate my phone’s screen?

Feed Me, See More

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:35:49 -0400

Feed Me, See More:

My first piece for a new client: The Magazine, an iPad/Kindle/Web publication. Here, I inspect BuzzFeed’s image-appropriating habits and discover that many of the people whose images get reproduced there without their say-so don’t mind all that much. (In other words, the evidence my queries revealed led me someplace I didn’t expect—which is one of the things that makes this line of work interesting.)

Samsung's Galaxy S 4 Strives For Sentience

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:05:00 -0400

Samsung's Galaxy S 4 Strives For Sentience:

Samsung’s latest Android phone only acts like it’s reading your mind.

In my other review of this Samsung phone, for Discovery News, I took a look at how well its attempted artificial intelligence works in a few key categories: tracking your eyes to let you (try to) control the screen, detecting when you have a finger just above the screen and warping time and space with special-effect photography modes. I would not mind seeing some of these features on my next phone. Would you?

Samsung's Galaxy S 4 is a No-Touch-Touchscreen, Not-Quite-Android Android Phone

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:29:28 -0400

Samsung's Galaxy S 4 is a No-Touch-Touchscreen, Not-Quite-Android Android Phone:

Samsung’s new smartphone contains multitudes. The Galaxy S 4’s touchscreen doesn’t need to be touched to respond to your actions. Its software looks less like Android than almost any other phone running Google’s operating system, but the thing ships with a newer version of it, 4.2, than almost all others. And its 5-inch screen outsizes […]

I wrote up Samsung’s new flagship Android phone—based on a week’s inspection of a Sprint-configuration model loaned by Samsung PR—for Boing Boing. I like the hardware most, I have mixed opinions on Samsung’s add-on apps, and I’m not a fan of Samsung’s increasingly pervasive alterations to Android.

Road Testing the Newest Wave in Taxi Hailing Apps

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:55:01 -0400

Road Testing the Newest Wave in Taxi Hailing Apps :

I tried out three taxi-summoning apps—Uber Taxi, Taxi Magic and myTaxi—in Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Va., for The Atlantic Cities. You can probably guess which one I liked best; my least favorite was something of a surprise to me too.

Try these alternative keyboard options for your smartphone

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:00:00 -0400

Try these alternative keyboard options for your smartphone:

Question. I have a friend whose hands shake slightly from a childhood bout with scarlet fever. Would a smartphone with a physical keyboard be better than a virtual, onscreen one?

My USAToday.com column covers keyboards - the ones preinstalled on iPhones and Android phones, and some you might want to use in place of those. There’s also a reminder to change your phone’s ringtone and alert sounds from the defaults; won’t you please follow it?

Yes, Android Updates Are A Mess. What Do We Do About That?

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:54:38 -0400

Yes, Android Updates Are A Mess. What Do We Do About That?:

Your phone’s manufacturer will probably be late in shipping security updates for your Android phone, and your carrier will probably delay those still further. The ACLU wants the Federal Trade Commission to take action; I think the ultimate remedy has to be getting the carriers out of the phone-procurement business. Who’s with me?

Facebook Home: Social Network Engulfs Android

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:10:54 -0400

Facebook Home: Social Network Engulfs Android:

Put me down as not a fan of Facebook Home in this review for Discovery News based on a few days with the HTC First: It’s not protected by the usual Android screen-lock password, PIN or pattern; it hides the time, signal strength and battery charge; it makes using Facebook itself awkward sometimes. But is anybody even that anxious to use a Facebook-dominated phone?