Jajah offers cheap long distance via iPhone browser

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1. Jajah offers cheap long distance via iPhone browser - 2007-07-02 01:49:46-04
   VoIP carrier Jajah- which enables cheap long distance calls by bridging two local calls with a VoIP connection- is inviting iPhone users-subscribers to sign up via their service for international calls. In fact, they have a new marketing pitch for these iPhone users. It's called Free.Your.iPhone. The proposition encourages iPhone owners (who are AT&T Mobility subscribers) to access the mobile Jajah site with their iPhone's Web browser. Once there, users can enter a friend's overseas number and click "CALL." Jajah points out that calls done this way via the iPhone to the U.K. costs 3 cents a minute vs. 23 minutes if the call was entirely conducted via AT&T. I'm unsure how many iPhone users will try this, but...
   
2. "Taken with iPhone" photos pop up on Flickr - 2007-07-02 02:01:13-04
   "I said be careful, his iPhone's really a camera"- Old Simon & Garfunkel lyric from their song "America." Relevant today because with the first iPhone users now on the high of having the coveted device on hand, some are using the iPhone's built-in camera to take pictures. Some are sending these photos to friends, or even posting them on Flickr. I looked around and found this one on brister's Flickr photostream. No matter what camera you use, all the reflective surfaces in this shot mean that taking a picture like this isn't all that easy. Good work brister.
   
3. A quick partition primer - 2007-07-02 02:12:29-04
   I just finished installing OpenSUSE 10.2 on my laptop. While the process went without a hitch (image gallery of the install with instructions and potential stumbling blocks to follow later today) and SUSE even recognized my wireless cards immediately, I realized that a basic understanding of disk partitions would be helpful, whether you live in L'Unix-land or Windows World. So here goes (experienced partitioners need not read any further unless you'd like some training materials for other users). Hard drives (the main storage area on your computer, generally composed of spinning magnetic platters) can be divided into sections for use by your operating system. To the user, these are seen as completely separate disk drives (in Windows at least; in...
   
4. California almost out of iPhones, other states somewhat better - 2007-07-02 02:15:18-04
   Every evening at Midnight ET, the Apple site updates the list of Apple retail outlets that have the iPhone in stock, and those that do not. Looking at some state's iPhone availability pages, we see that while Apple stores in most states still have some fairly common iPhone availability, only two of 36 Apple retail stores in Apple's home state of California have iPhones on hand. If you go to an Apple store today and they are out, let us know via Comment!
   
5. Mainframes, IFL, and Linux - 2007-07-02 03:15:13-04
   (Note: This is a re-run - from May 16, 2006) The IFL, or integrated facility for Linux, is a mainframe CPU license that's limited to running Linux. Novel has yet to post SuSe licensing costs for the new z9 series mainframes, but charged $13,999 per year per "processing engine" on the previous generation z900 series. in other words, if the same pricing held, you'd pay them about $750,000 per year for Linux on a fully configured z9. The actual performance offered by Linux on zSeries is secret. IBM only benchmarks the mainframe against itself and doesn't release absolute performance information about Linux (or anything else) in this environment. As a result what little published information exists tends to be less...
   
6. Hoilday re-runs - 2007-07-02 03:17:42-04
   I'm using the holidays in the United States and Canada this week as an excuse to re-run three blogs from the past. There's new stuff coming on Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile: (1) for Monday I'm re-running "Mainframes, IFL, and Linux" from May 16, 2006. (see below) (2) And, speaking of things that haven't changed - I'm rerunning "The right way for Sun to deal with Wall Street" from May 2nd, 2006 on Tuesday. It's unsolicited (and unheard) advice to Sun that makes as much sense now as it did then. (3) Tying these two re-runs together is Wednesday's: Captain Cyborg and the problem of evil, from December 16, 2005. I'll be back Thursday - meanwhile I'm trying to figure out...
   
7. Brightstar Corporation Increases Security and Saves Money with Provision Networks - 2007-07-02 06:00:11-04
   I had an opportunity to ask Anthony "Tony" Escarpenter, Infrastructure and Security, Brightstar Corporation, a few questions about how his organization is using tools from Provision Networks. Thanks Tony for finding time to communicate with me during a difficult time. I really appreciate it. Please tell me who you are and a bit about your organization. I am Director of IT Infrastructure and Security with Brightstar Corporation, the largest wireless distribution and supply chain solutions company in the world. We operate in 49 countries on six continents with 2006 revenues in excess of $3.6 billion. What does your organization do that needs what Provision Networks offers? We operate global call centers and distribution centers. With a distributed infrastructure and workforce,...
   
8. News to know: Yahoo new ad tool; iPhone diary; GPL3 final - 2007-07-02 07:07:42-04
   Notable headlines: New York Times: Universal in Dispute With Apple Over iTunes. Yahoo launches customizable ad tool. Image Gallery: Forum Nokia S60 applications. Dan Farber: U.S. healthcare industry: Google wants to protect you from Michael Moore's Sicko. Garett Rogers: Google monetizing negative press around healthcare? Google Health Advertising blog. Techmeme. iPhone coverage: Jason O'Grady: iPhone Diary Day 3: porting problems persist. Days 1 and 2. Full review of Apple iPhone 8GB. Mitch Ratcliffe: iPhone is spectacular. Gallery: iPhone unboxing. David Berlind: iPhone 2.0 will likely be worth the wait. Activation video. Matthew Miller: What kind of choices do you have if you don't want an iPhone? Ryan Naraine: Breaking open the iPhone. AnandTech: Apple's iPhone dissected. Mary Jo Foley: Exchange...
   
9. We won't see Linux Palm OS devices until sometime in 2008 - 2007-07-02 07:11:31-04
   As revealed back in April we were expecting to see the new Palm Linux operating system start to roll out at the end of 2007, but according to a conference call reported on by Brighthand Palm won't be releasing any devices with this new OS until sometime in 2008. This means that Palm will continue to release Windows Mobile and Palm OS based devices in 2007. This may a bit disheartening for those Palm OS fans that were looking for a refresh to their aging Garnet devices, especially now that the iPhone is in the mobile device market and offering a simple interface like the Palm.
   
10. Universal Music plays iTunes hardball with Apple - 2007-07-02 07:28:13-04
    Does Apple's iTunes store need U2? That's the crux of a game of chicken being played between Apple and Universal Music Group, which counts U2 and other big name artists in its stable. Who's going to blink? The New York Times and others are reporting that Universal Music Group told Apple that it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes. The reports, which cite unnamed sources, indicate that Universal Music is looking to market its music at will. The bottom line there is that Universal can pull its music at any time if there's a spat. Clearly, Universal Music is looking for leverage. This anonymous source sure seems to be getting around. Meanwhile, it doesn't...
    
11. The old coffee-in-the-keyboard trick - 2007-07-02 07:30:14-04
    It was early Sunday morning, I was sipping my morning coffee while working on a post for today when the telephone rang. I was surprised. Why was someone calling at 6:30 AM on a Sunday morning? I grabbed for the phone so that my wife wouldn't be disturbed and the coffee sloshed. The small amount of coffee flying through the air didn't head for the floor or the papers on my desk. No, it headed straight for the keyboard of my new Dell laptop computer. Bullseye! The machine immediately shut down. While I was telling the caller that I would call back in a few moments, I used up a whole box of tissues blotting up the mess. I then...
    
12. SAP's response to Oracle suit coming today - 2007-07-02 07:35:16-04
    SAP said in a short statement that it will respond to Oracle's complaint--filed March 22 and amended June 1--today. The timeline is before midnight PDT. Today is the last day SAP can file its response. We'll have the details when the response is filed.
    
13. Canadian cops recruit in Second Life - 2007-07-02 07:42:58-04
    Last month, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) held a recruitment seminar in Second Life. Yes, you read that right: recruiting law enforcement officers through a virtual world. The idea, the VPD said, was to target a generation who are extremely web-savvy. If they are early adopters venturing into a virtual world, then they must know a thing or two about new technology and how to operate efficiently online. Like so many new initiative in Second Life, this one feels like a rather expensive PR exercise, designed to cash on the virtual world's hype. However, further into The Vancouver Sun's report, are a number of telling quotes from Inspector Kevin McQuiggin, head of the police department's tech crimes division, which suggest...
    
14. Queen Elizabeth II said to have BlackBerry on order - 2007-07-02 08:00:31-04
    No, that's not Helen Mirren. That's the real Queen Elizabeth II. At the encouragement of her son Prince Andrew,  Her Majesty is said to have a BlackBerry on order. Not just for show, either. For years, reports have persisted that the Monarch is a personal Internet user. She also owns an iPod, which she has filled (or has had) filled with patriotic songs. Somehow I don't think the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy In The U.K." is among them.  Hmm, the Princess Diana tribute version of Elton John's "Candle In The Wind?" Perhaps not.
    
15. Warning for 64-bit Windows users: No iPhone support for you - 2007-07-02 08:30:37-04
    As Engadget reported over the weekend, the iPhone is incompatible with the 64-bit flavors of Windows XP and Windows Vista. Apple's iPhone specs page doesn't mention the incompatibility; it says that the iPhone will work with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate Edition; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later. Apple does acknowledge the iPhone's 64-bit Windows incompatibility on the iPhone support page in a foot note. When will the iPhone be compatible with 64-bit flavors of Windows? I've asked Apple when and if it plans to offer a fix/update. So far, nothing back. The comments over the weekend on Slashdot about the iPhone-64-bit-Windows incompatibility are worth a read. There's the "blame Microsoft"...
    
16. Infineon a big winner in iPhone teardown - 2007-07-02 08:36:15-04
    EE Times commissioned Semiconductor Insights to tear down the iPhone and dissect its innards. The key takeaways: Infineon is the chip of choice; there are many shared iPod parts that made design easier; and Apple brands a bunch of components to hide the names. The report notes the following: The first thing that strikes us as SI looked at the insides of the iPhone, are the number of Apple branded components," said Quirk. That makes it difficult to discern what parts make up the iPhone. To get inside the chips, SI resorted to decapping, a process that involves immersing the chips in acid to dissolve the outer packaging and then manually scraping away any residual packaging material. Here's a look...
    
17. Report: 500,000 iPhones sold over the weekend - 2007-07-02 08:44:40-04
    Colleague Tom Krazit reports that analyst firm Piper Jaffray estimates Apple's sold around half a million iPhones over the weekend. Data comes from a report issued Sunday night by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, estimating that Apple and AT&T Mobility have moved about 500,00 units thus far. Munster (now stop mind associating Gene with Herman) had predicted 200,000 units would move Friday and Saturday. The Piper Jaffray report acknowledged low supplies at AT&T Mobility stores, but also noted Apple had iPhones available in each one of its stores on Saturday, and in 84 percent of its stores Sunday. Tom notes that according to a Piper Jaffray study, ninety-five percent of iPhone buyers in San Francisco, New York and Minneapolis...
    
18. Forum Nokia developers actively support S60 devices - 2007-07-02 08:46:58-04
    I am a big fan of the S60 platform and in particular the Nokia N95, Nokia N73 and N93 and one major differences between these devices and the iPhone is the huge 3rd party development community. Michael Tangeman, from The Pen Group sent along a loaner Nokia N80ie loaded with applications from Forum Nokia developers. The applications include fring, FlashWeather, PocketCaster, Project Gotham Racing Mobile, SCANBUY Shopper, and SCANBUY Media. Michael also included QuickOffice and I plan to post a thorough review of the latest version in the next couple of weeks. So take a look at my image gallery for application screenshots and read below for a bit more about each application. Image Gallery: Check out product screenshots from...
    
19. I can understand why some want to downgrade from Vista to XP - 2007-07-02 08:55:07-04
    Last week my ZDNet blogging colleague Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft is to make it easier for some Vista users (specifically those using Windows Vista Ultimate and Vista Business) to roll back to Windows XP until they are ready to make the move.  This is a good move for everyone, except Microsoft. Personally, I can understand why users who jumped onto the Vista train might want to get off.  Even if you buy (or build) a PC specifically with Vista in mind, you can still end up with some nasty headaches when you try to slot a Vista PC into your hardware/software ecosystem.  Here's what I wrote about that just a few days ago: Now, here's the thing. I run...
    
20. Has Steve Jobs dropped the iTunes ball? - 2007-07-02 09:10:52-04
    Has Steve Jobs been too focused on the iPhone over the past six months and allowed problems to develop over in an established part of Apple's business - iTunes.  The New York Times reports today that Universal Music Group has notified Apple that it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes.  Rather than have a contract, Universal wants to be able to sell music to Apple at will, which would give it the right to remove songs from iTunes if pricing became an issue.  Universal hopes that by not entering into a long-term contract with Apple that it might be able to negotiate better terms.  There are two sides to this story.  On the one hand Apple...