I doubt this will be a problem for him for long. Given his ridiculous claims are not backed up by any kind of medical science, I'd expect his suit to be thrown out, and that the inevitable counter suit from his neighbour for "distress" probably will win rendering poor Arthur penniless and homeless!

If it is Microsoft who is charging for access to XBox Live Gold and keeping all the revenue, how is it that the BBC unable to offer the iPlayer regardless since crucially the BBC is not charging anything themselves for access, and Microsoft is not levying a *specific* charge in relation to iPlayer access - the charge is for "premium" access to their own closed network, XBox Live.

After all, in order to access the iPlayer, I have to have a broadband service, which means I am paying my ISP for access to their network. The same is true if I wanted to access iPlayer over a WiFi hotspot such as BT Openzone (I know it's free over The Cloud!). With respect to WiFi hotspots especially (The Cloud excepted), I see no particular difference between this and XBox Live.

This is the sort of user who's had his console banned: http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_10000000/newsid_10002900/10002915.stm

I quote - " I mean it's always at the back of your head using pirate games you know there's that possibility".

IMHO, the vast majority of Xbox owners who claim to have modified their consoles so that they can use "backups" of their legitimately owned software are lying thieves! I'd say all of them, but I'm sure their are one or two red-palmed anoraks who can't face putting their original GTA disks in their Xbox!

No local apps? No thanks!

I'm well into the Google "scene", running Google Apps for Domains, but I just don't see this being anything past an "InstantOn" type solution for my Vaio P.

@Tony Hoyle - well, it's open as in open source - hopefully someone will create a version that's a little more worthwhile!

Two things!

Firstly, I have Copilot on a T-Mobile G2 Touch (Hero) and I've never experienced Sense UI crashing on exit. Note, it's not called TouchFlo any more, though the process still is!

Secondly, ALK recently released an update which changes the keyboard to a QWERTY layout, which is better. However, I'd prefer they just used the Android "standard" IME keyboards.

Otherwise, a good review - just got back from a road trip through France to Spain, and Copilot worked flawlessly.

Actually I disagree. I grew up as a child in the 70s and Tom Baker was my Doctor. As I grew older, I thought that I had outgrown the programme, especially in the McCoy era, but when they started releasing the Tom Baker episodes on video, I lapped them up because they were still great stories. I now have them on DVD and they are still fantastic!

IMHO, the Philip Hinchcliffe (producer) era produced some of the very best episodes of Doctor Who, and they stand the test of time to this very day. It is interesting to note that 4 of the 5 Baker episodes listed in this article were produced by Hinchcliffe.

I think you rather missed the point here. The FCC asked *why* Google Voice was rejected - it was not a demand for Apple to carry it.

Apple operate a near-monopoly in the smartphone application space now, and it is right that such questions be asked if this position is being abused. Already we heard of applications being passed by Apple, and then subsequently revoked, forcing developers into refunding customers who may have been perfectly happy with their purchase. Indeed, there was some concern that the store terms meant that developers would have to refund 100% of the purchase price themselves with Apple keeping their 30% cut, though I do not know if this ever came to pass.

I like Apple products - I have an iMac sitting on my desk here and a Macbook in the room next door, but I am really beginning to question how this company operates because I'm not sure it is in the consumers best interests.

Regards,

Dave

For me, that phrase just means that the handset is one I'll never own.

I don't like handset exclusives, never have and never will. I might have had an iPhone if it'd been available on other networks, as I'm not going to shell at that much money for a SIM-free one.

I choose my network based on performance, reliability, price, and signal strength in the areas that I need to be, not on the handsets that they offer subsidized under contract.

Why wouldn't it be a Mac purely because it was using an Arm CPU?

68000-based Macs were Macs

Power-based Macs were Macs

Intel-based Macs are Macs

So why shouldn't an Arm-based "Mac" be a Mac? Yes, it may well be architecturally similar to an iPhone, but what really matters here is what applications will be available for the platform and whether the OS is more closely aligned to Mac OS X than OS X iPhone. Given that most iPhone apps are designed for a relatively low resolution screen, and that I'd expect this new device to support higher resolutions, it is likely to be somewhat a hybrid of the two.

GMail doesn't have folders *by design*.

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en-uk&answer=10708

Whether or not it as an acceptable substitute is a matter of personal opinion of course (it is in mine - labels work brilliantly). What really irritates me though is the inability to search using wild card operators!

I'm sure I'm not alone in the conviction that I will *never* change my network provider to get a specific device. I'd have liked an Iphone, but I was never going to move to O2 to get one, and the same is going to be true of the Pre.

So good luck Palm - I'm sure you've got a great phone on your hands, but this ridiculous insistence on exclusive deals means that I'll probably never own one unless I can get an unlocked one on Ebay. I'd sooner pay a few hundred quid for an unlocked device that I can use with the operator of *my* choice, than have a network foisted on me.

@Sergie

Rip of Britain???

Your currency conversions are way, way, way off! You've converted the VAT-less GBP price, "back" to GBP, instead of the USD price.

The actual conversion should be:

$599 *. 71 = £425.29

Add 15% VAT and you get to £489.08! Somewhat more reasonable methinks!

Regards,

Dave

So obviously a cheap knock off, it's untrue! It superficially resembles Android, but you don't need to get far into the video to see that it isn't.

I think you misread the article. It says that * emoticons* can be traced back to the 19th century - the :-) is just a specific example, and that dates back to 1982.

From Wikipedia: "Although historical antecedents go back to the nineteenth century, the emoticon as we presently use it traces directly back to a proposal by Scott Fahlman in a message of 19th September 1982"

"I admit that I installed OSX onto a box I'd built myself and it sucks. Badly."

Really? Perhaps the reason it "sucks" is because you installed it on a box you'd built yourself rather than Apple hardware?

I'm not an Apple fanboi by any stretch, but I did recently buy a Mac for home and to be honest its desktop implementation is leaps and bounds above any Linux distro IMHO - and this is coming from someone with a Unix heritage (AIX, SCO, SunOS/Solaris, HP-UX) and a keen advocate of Linux.

I have a simple test when it comes to OS desktops - can my dad use it and install software on it? Whilst Vista or XP pass this test, most Linux distros do not and they really need to look at what Apple has done with OS/X to see how to make "Unix" accessible to non-IT users.

We should start a No 10. petition to have Chris Moles sacked for wasting public time and money in his bid to gain cheap publicity? I'd do it myself, but I'm far too lazy and not really that bothered about the issue, but it would be interesting to see just how many signatures it ended up getting, especially if it went viral! Rather more than 500 I'd wager.

I wonder how many of the 500 complaints came from people who actually watched the show? My guess would be practically none since the *many* millions who watch Top Gear would know what the humour is like in the show and take it in the spirit it was intended.

I suggest that if Jeremy Clarkson appealed to viewers of his show to write to Chris Moles "employers" and demand that he be sacked, there would many more than 500 people calling for his head. The difference of course, is that JC (wow - just realized that!) would probably mean it in jest, and doesn't require the sort of cheap publicity that this MP is seeking.

Give it a rest "MP Chris Moles" and get in touch with the people you are supposed to represent. I'd hazard a guess that if the BBC were to act on your "demands" to sack JC, you'd find yourself far more unpopular with the electorate than JC is, though given the current government that may actually be quite hard to achieve.

British - and proud of the fact that we can laugh at almost anything!

Regards,

Dave

I wonder if the problems run much deeper than Max suggests, since despite repeated requests (and promises) for a refund, my money has yet to appear. And that is despite me emailing Max directly after getting nothing but static from the refunds "department" who asked if a cheque would suffice. A cheque would be fine - if only someone would actually write one and send it out!

Erhhhh - probably not. DVB-T2 is a transmission standard and your TV probably never had an HD "tuner" as such and would need a set top box to receive terrestrial HD broadcasts anyway. Your TV will still be able to display an HD picture from a DVB-T2 broadcast, so long as you have a "set top" box that supports it.

... but "its" is correct in this context as it represents "it" in its (sic! :) ) possessive form. "It's" is a contraction of "it is" and thus not applicable in this case.

I'll get me coat!

Stephen says:

"Don't get me started on the "Up to" speeds nonsense. If a car manufacturer sold you a car that could go "Up to 100mph" and the reality was you only got half that speed, people sure as hell would not stand for it."

Sorry, but all drivers here in the UK stand for this every day of the week. My car is capable of well in excess of 100mph, yet the maximum legal speed I can travel at is 70mph. Due to congestion, I rarely get to travel at even the legal maximums, especially in London. :)

Regards,

Dave

When you refer to SCO as a "once great company", you seem to forget that the Santa Cruz Operation (old SCO) of old actually sold of its Unix server biz to Caldera and renamed itself to Tarentella Inc and eventually became part of Sun.

Caldera (an ex-Linux shop!) rebranded itself as the SCO Group (new SCO). New SCO never was a great company and, by the looks of things, never will be!

Paris Hilton angle? She once appeared on the cover of Elle magazine wearing a Santa Cruz Surfing Club t-shirt. I'll get me coat.....