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iPhone 4 Gets 11th Hour Reprieve With Obama Administration Veto On Import Ban
How Copyright Bullying Is Destroying Common Culture
Text Kills Documentary "Smartphones Of Mass Destruction" Indiegogo Campaign In Final Countdown
Retina vs. Battery Life
iDevices Facilitate Reincarnation Of 1950s Living Room Gathering, Sort Of
iPad Eclipses Samsung, Google's Android In Tablet Profits
Guardian Cam 3.0 for iOS: Get a Photo of Anyone Who Touches Your iDevice
iPhone 4 Gets 11th Hour Reprieve With Obama Administration Veto On Import Ban
Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports that at the last minute - on the final day of a 60-day review period - the Obama Administration did the right thing and vetoed an International Trade Commission import ban on the iPhone 4 that had been scheduled to take effect on August 5' and which would have prevented Apple from importing into the U.S. five of its Chinese-sourced products including the iPhone 4 variant that runs on AT&T's network and was one of Apple's best sellers during the last quarter.
Elmer DeWitt suggests that the Obama administration may have been concerned with potential political fallout from letting a Korean manufacturer (Samsung, which asserts Apple's violation if its patents) stop an American company from importing products into its own country - especially when a U.S. court refused to ban Samsung devices that a jury found to have willfully violated several Apple patents.
For the full report, visit:
http://goo.gl/p79RrM
Full text of the Obama administration's letter to the International Trade Commission can be found here:
http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/157897822
How Copyright Bullying Is Destroying Common Culture
The Atlantic's Rebecca J. Rosen reports on research done by Paul J. Heald at the University of Illinois, results of which find that based on a software crawl of Amazon.com for a selection of randomly selected titles, as many books are available from the 1910s as from the 2000s, and the number of books from the 1850s was double the number available from the 1950s.
Howcum?
Ms. Rosen observes that copyright protections (which cover titles published in 1923 and after) squashed the market for books from the middle of the 20th century, keeping those titles off shelves and out of the hands of the reading public. She cites Heald observing that: "Copyright correlates significantly with the disappearance of works rather than with their availability. Shortly after works are created and proprietized, they tend to disappear from public view only to reappear in significantly increased numbers when they fall into the public domain and lose their owners."
Ms. Rosen also notes Paul J. Heald's contention that in a market with no copyright distortion, metrics would show "a fairly smoothly doward sloping curve from the decade 2000-2010 to the decade of 1800-1810 based on the assumption that works generally become less popular as they age (and therefore are less desirable to market)." But that's not at all what we see. "Instead," he writes that copyright "makes books disappear"; its expiration brings them back to life.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/sBA4dk
Text Kills Documentary "Smartphones Of Mass Destruction" Indiegogo Campaign In Final Countdown
Text Kills is a 501c3 donation-supported outreach program that regularly partners with law enforcement, fire/safety authorities, schools, other non-profits, community outreach programs, and corporate safety officers in an effort to educate and increase public awareness concerning the dangers of cell phone use while driving or when used to bully and harass (text-bullying).
The Text Kills project believe they are uniquely qualified to take on this project given their 3+years of experience as an outreach organization. Over that time, they’ve been collecting data, assessing technology relating to mobile communication devices, and, most importantly, talking to the general public through the vehicle of their Text Kills bus, which has attended and presented at literally hundreds of events.
Text Kills works with Bully Buster USA (http://goo.gl/6Hnqs0) in community outreach and safety awareness, dedicated to educating the public about the deadly issues of distracted driving and text-bullying. To help spread the Text Kills' message of driver safety and responsibility, the Text Kills Tour Bus traverses the country, collecting signatures on its sides from people pledging not to text and drive.
The purpose of the Text Kills Indiegogo is to raise funds to make a one-of-a-kind, educational documentary on texting while driving, "Smartphones of Mass Destruction," that will focus four main aspects of the relatively new, and very dangerous byproduct, of using mobile technology while driving, - the stories, science, psychology, technology, and laws surrounding the practice, which has become the nation's number one teen killer (3,331 people died from TWD in 2011). The campaign has raised $10,000 of its $15,000 goal so far. Text Kills plans to provide the documentary free of charge to schools and educators around the country.
The TextKills Indiegogo project film will explore and expose what happens chemically in the brain when you engage in texting while driving (or TWD), hear from esteemed psychologists on how TWD changes our behavior and affects us psychologically and emotionally, look at the latest technology trends in mobile communications (including an exploration of what lies ahead in terms of technology design), and, finally, analyze the “what” and the “why” behind various state and federal initiatives that lawmakers are now planning or pushing forward as part of their effort to discourage talking on the phone or texting while driving (Distracted Driving).
However, the plan is not to present an unengaging, dry, technical, and monotone review of this major issue that affects everyone on the road. In making this film, the producers have sought out the most tragic and heart-rending stories shared by those whose lives have forever changed as result of a Distracted Driving accident or incident. You will meet the real faces whose lives have been changed forever by this real problem, and the goal is not to scare, but to educate, inspire, and provoke personal responsibility in smartphone users, so that when your phone rings, vibrates, or pings, you make the decision to focus on driving while on the road.
The project has found in its research is that in many instances, especially among teens, the mere temptation to text has been replaced with an actual texting addiction. They note that nowadays, parents with children and teens who have phones and tablets must compete with these mobile devices for attention, and regular old human interaction is playing 2nd (or even 3rd) fiddle. Kids are staying inside and texting in chat rooms rather than having play dates and visiting friends in person. Amazingly, many teens are choosing to have cell phones, as opposed to cars, because iPhones and Android devices provide the same, if not greater, "keys" to their "freedom." This film exposes a very real generational gap that technology has created, and proposes some creative solutions to facilitate bringing people, friends and families closer together.
In short, this documentary takes a fresh new approach to understanding and addressing the phenomena of TWD and Distracted Driving. By holding a more powerful mirror up to expose and analyze these problems, the Text Kills Indiegogo producers hope to give the viewing public the tools it needs to stop this threat to our collective safety “dead in its tracks.”
TWDocumentary Indiegogo Campaign:
http://goo.gl/hrVwJT
For more information, visit:
http://igg.me/at/textkills
Nick Vujicic Talks About Texting While Driving(TWD) and the Text Kills Outreach
http://goo.gl/iXANaV
View Text Kills videos on YouTube:
http://goo.gl/Vj9SWn
Website:
http://igg.me/at/textkills/x/3819818
Retina vs. Battery Life
Daring Fireball's John Gruber has some interesting comments on the saw-off between ultra high resolution Retina displays and their negative effect on battery life, which he says is the reason why he's skeptical about the iPad mini getting a Retina display this year, inferring that Apple would be reluctant to thicken the mini's form factor to accommodate a larger battery as they did with the iPad 3 in 2012. But what's the alternative? Another year at 1024 x 768? "That feels off too," says Gruber, observing that we demand a magical Retina iPad Mini with no decrease in battery life.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/08/02/retina-v-battery
iDevices Facilitate Reincarnation Of 1950s Living Room Gathering, Sort Of
British communications market research firm Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2013 finds that families are still coming together to watch TV in the living room, with 91% of UK adults viewing TV on the household's main set each week, up from 88% in 2002.
However, it's not quite a return to 1950s patterns, what with an increasing array of digital media now vying for attention, and people streaming videos, sending and receiving instant messages, and updating their social media status - all while ostensibly watching more TV than before.
The report notes that more than half of UK adults (51%) now owning smartphones, almost double the proportion two years ago (27%), and att the same time, tablet ownership has more than doubled in the past year, rising from 11% of UK homes to 24%, with the average household now owning more than three types of internet enabled device, and one in five owning six or more. Over half (53%) of UK adults now media multi-task while watching TV on a weekly basis, and watching other content on a different device is one of these activities. Half (49%) of respondents use their smartphones and tablets for completely unrelated activities while watching TV every week - such as surfing the net (36%), social networking (22%) or online shopping (16%), and women significantly more likely to media multi-task (56% compared to 51% of men), as are those with children at home (66%).
Ofcom's Director of Research James Thickett comments in a release: "Our research shows that increasingly families are gathering in the living room to watch TV just as they were in the 1950s - but now delivered on bigger, wider and more sophisticated sets. Unlike the 1950s family, however, they are also doing their own thing. They are tweeting about a TV show, surfing the net or watching different content altogether on a tablet."
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/PpxQf0
iPad Eclipses Samsung, Google's Android In Tablet Profits
Appeinsider's Daniel Eran Dilger notes that while market research firms publicly trumpet that Apple's iPad is "losing market share" in tablet shipments, their metrics also show that Apple continues to obliterate Samsung, Google's Android, Microsoft, Amazon and the rest of the industry in tablet profits, and that nobody is really profitable in smartphones except Apple and Samsung.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/t59FwB
Guardian Cam 3.0 for iOS: Get a Photo of Anyone Who Touches Your iDevice
Kawasaki, Japan-based MHTIS Co.,Ltd. has announced Guardian Cam 3.0 for iOS, an update to its utility app that, once activated, automatically captures a photo of anyone who touches the user's iDevice. The app replaces the Home Screen with a dummy screen, and if it is touched, the front-facing camera captures a picture. Ideal for those with security and privacy concerns, the upgrade adds auto-flash in low light, an icon badge that displays the number of photos captured, and an optional audio alarm that cannot be shut off until it stops itself after one minute.
Feature Highlights:
(*) Discover who may be using your iPhone without permission
(*) Capture a photo of anyone who touches the Home Screen
(*) Photos are dated and saved
(*) Optional audio alarm can be set
(*) New auto-flash in low light
Many people have reasons to suspect that their iPhone or iPad has been used without their knowledge. Now, Guardian Cam provides a simple, foolproof way to catch unauthorized users in the act. The app allows users to create a dummy screen, a duplicate of their Home Screen, which is just a photo. Anyone who touches the photo to look at a file, open an app, or make a call is immediately caught by the front-facing camera. Users may set an optional, audio alarm that alerts others that someone has violated the owner's privacy.
"No one likes to accuse a friend, family member, or co-worker of using their iPhone without permission," commentes Ken Pawley on behalf of MHTIS. "Guardian Cam is the perfect, undetectable solution to find out exactly who has used your iPhone."
Language Support:
(*) English and Japanese
Device Requirements:
(*) iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S and iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd, 4th and 5th gen) and iPad
(*) Requires iOS 6.1 or later
(*) Universal app optimized for display on all iOS devices
(*) iDevice must have a front-facing camera
(*) 0.3 MB
Guardian Cam 3.0 is $1.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Utilities category. Review copies are available on request.
Guardian Cam 3.0 :
http://www.mhtis.co.jp/?lang=en
Purchase and Download :
https://itunes.apple.com/app/guardian-cam.-secure-your/id642681913
Trackback URL:
http://goo.gl/4G8aje
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