The company has told some applications developers, including Sony that they can no longer sell content, such as e-books, inside their apps, or let customers have access to purchases they have made outside the App Store.
Apple declined Sony?s iPhone application that would let consumers purchase and read e-books purchased from the Sony Reader Store.
Apple told Sony that from now on, all in-app purchases would have to go through Apple, said Steve Haber, president of Sony?s digital reading division.
This move will most likely have an effect on companies like Amazon.com and others that sell e-book readers that compete with Apple?s iPad and offer free mobile apps so consumers can read their e-book purchases on additional devices. An iPad owner, for example, has not needed to own a Kindle to read Kindle books bought from Amazon.
The alteration may signal a change for Apple. The company has made more money selling hardware than music, e-books or apps. If people could have access to more content from more sources on their iPhones and iPads, then they would buy more devices.
The move is also startling, as Apple has indicated as of late that it would be more collaborative, not reducing the amount of collaboration, with periodical publishers and other pleased producers that want more control over how to allocate content on the iPad.
?This sudden shift perhaps tells you something about Apple?s understanding of the value of its platform,? said James L. McQuivey, a consumer electronics analyst at Forrester Research. ?Apple started making money with devices. Maybe the new thing that everyone recognizes is the unit of economic value is the platform, not the device.?
Verizon is now sending more information out about the iPhone launch. Verizon is offering existing customers of ?corporate accounts a chance to buy the Verizon iPhone on February 3rd, a week before the general public.
Based on sources, Verizon will begin pre-order sales at 3am Eastern on February 3rd.
Please note a few things about pre-ordering the phone if you are existing customer of Verizon Wireless.
- Make sure you have your My Verizon self-serve account set-up online. Orders can only be placed through your my Verizon account. You can register/setup your account at… myaccount.verizonwireless.com
- On February 3rd at 3am EST, Verizon Wireless will allow current customers to order upgrades or new lines to their accounts through your My Verizon online account (make sure you have registered before the 3rd).
Verizon also states pre-sale inventory is limited, so when that inventory is depleted, customers will have to wait until the February 10th which is the public launch date.
Verizon is also allowing some existing AT&T iPhone customers to trade-in their iPhone for credit when buying a new Verizon iPhone 4. We are not sure if this will be offered to non-corporate accounts, but the trade-in price list is as follows:
Customers, of course, could do better selling their iPhones themselves, though this could provide a relatively low-hassle way to switch carriers. (trade-in prices are subject to change.) New Verizon iPhones will be shipped 2 day FedEx by default or optionally next day air.
Remember when you had to drive across town to get a signal from wireless connections coming out of cafe’s or someone’s house? It seems like a faint memory now, as technology speeds on with or without us, those days are done. Today there is a way to carry a Wi-Fi signal with you. This is a growing trend that will only keep getting more use because people need connections, and they need them now. Not down the street, not at home, todays consumer of electronics and web media needs access to the world every second of the day. Just what is mobile wireless, how does it work, and how can I get connected?
This device right here is from Novatel, and it is called Mi-Fi - a compact wireless router you can pocket and walk around while producing a wi-fi signal.
It is a new day and a completely different age for using the internet. Mi-Fi gives the user an option of connecting up to 5 devices to it, whether that be your smartphone, laptop, desktop, or gaming device. No more having to sit in a noisy Starbucks or try to connect to a weak signal from someone else’s router. You can go anywhere where the signal can backconnect to a cellular network (Sprint, ATT&T,?Verizon) and then frontconnect to local Wi-Fi devices.?So the signal is sent to the cellular network, then sent back through a Wi-Fi device to create a local area of shared internet connections.
Sprint will actually be offering the capability to connect this Mi-Fi device with 4G speed. This blog talked about the real difference between the regular third generation speed and the new fourth generation, coming to the conclusion that the only difference is in faster download speeds for websites and media. The catch is finding a device and a network that supports the 4G connection, so good luck as it is still very new.
There are other devices that create a mobile Wi-Fi spot, such as ATT&T’s 3G which connects via USB to your laptop. Apple came out with an app called MyWi, which turns your iPhone into a Wi-Fi hotspot.
However, beware of security issues that could leave you wishing you had not opened up this mobile hotspot. Hackers and anyone who can search the internet for ways to get into your Wi-Fi connection can access personal information. Already there have been accounts of Wi-Fi signals being breached by hackers and information such as security keys and GPS locations were ?compromised.
Mi-Fi from Novatel is for the consumer who is always on the go and cannot spend hours at the various locations for Wi-Fi connections. It is expensive, you must activate it through a contract with Sprint costing $60 a month. The device itself costs about $100.
What does this say about the future for Wi-Fi and the internet? It is saying that laptops are becoming less of a necessity as smartphones offer the same functions but with easier access and portability.
As technology speeds up, can we keep pace with the constant updates and improvements and releases of everything new? Better tighten up those running shoes!
That damn yellow triangle sign where your wireless bars should be has a “!” telling you that the signal is there, but due to a weak signal or no signal your internet use is put on hold. Until the signal can regain strength, your first thought might be to sit there patiently and wait it out, but who has time for that anymore? We live in a digital world, a wireless world, one that is very fast and waiting is something the tribes did sending a message to another camp hundreds of years ago. Try a second thought: change the things you can! The power to change the signal is yours, listen up.
If we look at the router, it is really an?amazing machine that is capable of fascinating feats for which we should be grateful for, I mean this little network tool makes our lives SO much easier. If we did not have the router, where would we be? Think about it, while you walk across the office to deliver something that could have been handled on a wireless network.
It all started back in Stanford with Bill Yeager who created the first router, which allowed for the wireless internet to blossom, as well as open many doors for the future. Yeager was asked originally to connect various departments at the school, he did much more than that. Back then they were only running on 56kb of memory, look how far it has have come!
How to combat Weak or No Signal
Now that you know a little bit more about where router’s come from, let’s talk on improving that sometimes weak signal which is everyone’s enemy if you use wireless.
Place the router away from the wall. The signal that is being given off the router is too high to go through walls very good, and until we start using the television white space which is a much lower signal but can travel through walls, it is best that you position your device to a more accessible spot. Try placing the router in the middle of the room, house or office. It will be able to reach all the computers trying to access it better.
Keep it off the floor. If you put the router on the floor, the signal being sent to other networks will surely be slow because it is not able to receive the data packets being sent back to the router from your computer.
Do not put the router near metal objects. This is self-explanatory, metal objects can deflect signals and interrupt them, causing that annoying warning sign to piss you off.
Use a hi-gain antenna. The router comes with a regular antenna that sends a signal in all directions, if it is placed in your office then half of the signal is going out the window! A hi-gain antenna focuses on a certain direction, a better choice if you have a desktop computer.
Still weak? Try another type of router. This is called a wireless repeater, you still need your router, but the repeater will take the strong signal it gets in the office, and transmits it to the living room to supply the same strong signal to your laptop while enjoying the news.
If all else fails, just turn the router on and then wait for a couple minutes, then turn it on again. Resetting the router will boot it up again, it usually works to get a good signal after reset.
I don’t know about you, but I am sick of that stupid yellow sign that blocks my internet and keeps me from accessing work, finishing emails, and all the basic tasks the internet allows me to do with ease. Thanks to these tips though, I will never have that problem again. After all, ignorance is the only real problem, everything else is just details. As always feel Free to contact us via email or give Computer Geeks a call at 800-433-5435 if you want us to fix it for you!
This device right here is from Novatel, and it is called Mi-Fi - a compact wireless router you can pocket and walk around while producing a wi-fi signal.
