FreeNAS
I've been wanting to give FreeNAS a try as a place to store my photos and backups. Has anyone given it a spin on an old computer? It seems like a nice project with a long, established history…
Ubuntu TV
Canonical premiered Ubuntu TV at the CES. It appears to be a very delightful interface for managing various traditional and Internet-based television services. Nevertheless, the big problem that has faced companies like TiVo has not been creating a great interface, but getting pay TV services to integrate with a given interface. How will Canonical avoid the exact same problem?
iBorrow, Part II
Given my last post, I find it doubly interesting that Samsung has introduced two services as part of its CES announcements: AdHub and SwipeIt (the latter name is particularly fitting). Of course, if one is going to shamelessly copy industrial design, one might as well offer parallel services and APIs, right?
iBorrow
A lot of bloggers who are not Apple users have been rather cynical about Apple's attempts to stop Samsung's cloning of Apple's designs, despite Samsung copying some parts of iOS down to icon placement and color on the Galaxy Tab. Well, if Samsung's often blatant ripoffs weren't enough, check out Acer's new cloud offering and accompanying product slides.
No wonder Apple spends so much on R&D. They are providing R&D for at least three different companies.
HT: John Gruber
On the Eight Day of Christmas: Apple iBooks Rumors
Right on cue, the January Apple Rumor Season has begun on the first quasi-back-to-work day after Christmas and New Year's. Today, various sources have been reporting rumors of an impending Apple media event. The interesting twist to the rumor is that it will focus not on new iPads, but on the iBooks bookstore.
What might Apple be up to with iBooks that is worthy of its own event? Given that the Kindle store is often cheaper, has a larger selection, and, unlike iBooks, (ironically) allows me to read books on my Mac in addition to my iPad, I've always found iBooks to be a non-starter. Maybe that will change?
Five Golden Rings
On the fifth day of Christmas, my Verizon PR contact sent to me a Galaxy Nexus to review. We will have a complete review of the latest Nexus phone on OFB in the next few weeks. So far, I like the changes that have been made in Android 4.0. It feels more coherent than either Android 2.3 or Android 3.x.
On the Fourth Day of Christmas...
I finally upgraded to iCloud. I hated to give up a few features being retired with MobileMe, but decided the Photo Stream and other new, iCloud-based features were too nice sounding to pass up. I'm trying to use this brief Christmas break to get all of my ducks in a row and part of that has involved me getting my photo library in better shape.
This marks the second time I have moved to a new Apple online service. I signed up for .Mac in 2004, the service that became MobileMe in 2008. So far, I think iCloud is closer to ideal than the other two, but I'd love to see some further improvements and maybe a way for other web apps to tie into iCloud. I wish iCloud had a full Dropbox like service as part of it, for example.
What's Wrong With Android: Exhibit 1392
Airpush is trying to attract developers to its Android ad network. How it suggests delivering its ads is telling: the company offers advertising shortcuts app developers can place on users' home screens and also push ads that show up in users' notification trays.
Nothing like bringing that genuine Windows adware experience to the mobile world.
Waiting for Siri
Anyone who has read or seen Waiting for Godot will appreciate this.
