If you haven’t entered my HP TouchSmart 600 Giveaway, do it NOW! It’s super easy to enter (kind of fun as well) and right now, the odds are pretty good at winning! Spread the word with friends, family and coworkers!
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Ustream Streams Live Video from Your iPhone 3GS
“iPhone 3GS: It’s been a long time coming, but Apple’s finally approved a (notable) live video streaming app for the iPhone 3GS. Ustream is one of the first out of the gate, and it seems to deliver on its promise.” (source: LifeHacker)- HTD: It wasn’t until a friend showed me this in action (while he was on a conference call and I was IM-ing him things to do while streaming live) did I actually believe it. There have been Ustream apps in the iTunes app store for a while, to pull down live streams or to record video and then upload. Given that Apple (or AT&T) has been very reluctant to approve any type of high-data transfer app (like Qik or Slingbox), this is a HUGE breakthrough. I tested it out and it works really well so I can only guess that Apple is “testing the waters” here to see how badly this type of app bogs down the network. I’m guessing that if this is all successful, then we will see changes to these types of applications that use a lot of bandwidth. I can only hope that Apple will start loosening up a bit more (Google Voice anyone?) and let Slingbox, Qik and countless others provide fuller and richer capabilities within their apps.
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AT&T to New York and San Francisco: We’re Working on It
“The head of AT&T’s wireless unit said Wednesday that the carrier is working to improve its network for iPhone and other smart-phone subscribers in New York and San Francisco. Manhattan and San Francisco, particularly the city’s financial district, “are performing at levels below our standards,†Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T Mobility, said at an investors conference.” (source: The Wall Street Journal)- HTD: It’s about time that AT&T acknowledge that they will be fixing the mediocre data network in the San Francisco Bay Area (I can’t talk to NYC since I don’t live there). As a heavy data user and sometimes voice user (with plenty of dropped calls), the only reason I’m on AT&T is because of the iPhone (oh and because I like the single bill I get for phone, wireless & satellite). If AT&T wants to really (attempt to) go after Verizon, then they had better throw a ton of effort into the major metro (techy) areas and make those users really, really happy!
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AT&T warns of coming clamp-down on iPhone data hogs
“Users who consume more than their fair share of bandwidth on AT&T’s wireless network could have a higher monthly bill in the future, one company executive said Wednesday. Speaking to investors at a UBS conference in New York, Ralph de la Vega, head of consumer services for AT&T, said that the nation’s second-largest wireless provider has been working to improve its network as bandwidth-hungry devices like the iPhone 3GS have resulted in poorer quality service. But he also said, according to The Associated Press, that it is inevitable that high-bandwidth users will be charged for what they use.” (source: AppleInsider)- HTD: WAIT…WHAT!!!??? Well this post is rapidly becoming all about AT&T and the network. It was not intentional but, hmmm, conspiracy theory? Let’s see, let’s approve a bunch of really heavy data usage apps and get users sucking up lots of data, then let’s fix the metro areas where there are LOTS of tech users who consume lots of data so that they will want to consume more, and then, let’s CHARGE those heavy data users EXTRA now that we have fixed the networks and approved these apps! WOW, if that isn’t a Conspiracy against the Heavy Data User, I don’t know what is!
HTD says: Wow, putting the pieces together on this AT&T stuff sure was eye-opening!
