Plus how repairable is the new HTC One?, Google Maps scams, Uber questions, Samsung's SKT dilemma, and more
Uber's biggest problem isn't surge pricing. What If It's sexual harassment by drivers? >> The Daily Beast
Olivia Nuzzi's investigation merits reading in full, and does seem to point to a problem with some drivers. |
| HTC One M8 review. We didn’t benchmark it. Guess what happens when you do? Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian |
HTC admits boosting One M8 benchmarks; makes it a feature >> CNET
Eric Mack:I asked HTC how the One M8 handles benchmark apps like AnTuTu, and received this response:You have to love how HTC is now turning it around: "If someone would like to get around this benchmarking optimisation..."
"Thanks for your email about the HTC One (M8). Benchmarking tests look to determine maximum performance of the CPU and GPU and, similar to the engine in a high-performance sports car, our engineers optimize in certain scenarios to produce the best possible performance. If someone would like to get around this benchmarking optimization there are ways to do so, but we think most often this will not be the case."
Teens don't use email, so email is dead, right? Wrong. >> austinpreneur
Joshua Baer:I don't know about you, but email sure doesn't feel dead to me. I check my email more than ever now that I always have a mobile phone and other ways to get notified of important emails such as my Pebble watch or Google Glass. I seem to get more email than ever, been though I've shifted many of my newsletters and groups to Facebook and Twitter.
Microsoft aims at global shipments of 25 million Windows tablets in 2014, say Taiwan makers >> Digitimes
Microsoft has set an internal goal of increasing global Windows tablet shipments, including its Surface, in 2014 to 25m units, five times the 5m units shipped in 2013, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
The target shipments are too optimistic, and 18-20m units is more likely, according to the sources.
In order to reach the goal, Microsoft has offered subsidies to vendors developing and launching Windows tablets, the sources indicated. While Sony and Lenovo are less interested in developing Windows tablets, Asustek Computer and Acer have been very cooperative with Microsoft, the sources noted. Asustek aims to ship 12m tablets in 2014, including about 4m Windows units, while Acer aims to ship 10m tablets including 2m Windows units, the sources said.And Surfaces? Aiming to go from 3m in 2013 to 6m.
RIM's quarterly results >> Bare Figures
RIM/BlackBerry's story, told through its own financial reports made into clear graphics. Note how much the "cost of sales" (part of "cost and operating expenses") has been cut in the most recent quarter compared to the former.New HTC One doubles repair score, still flunks the test >> iFixit
Say hello to the second-least-repairable smartphone we've laid our hands on. The M8 is easier to pull out of its rear case, with screws replacing some of the adhesive and clips from last year.
So now it's merely difficult—instead of nearly impossible—to disassemble the phone without destroying it. Once opened, the same demerits are present in the second generation: the battery is still layered beneath the motherboard, which is still layered beneath a year's supply of tape, and removing and replacing the display still requires tunneling through the entire phone.Last year's HTC One was the least-repairable smartphone. The full list is at http://www.ifixit.com/smartphone_repairability
Samsung may cut S5 supply to SKT >> Korea Times
Samsung Electronics said Thursday it could possibly reduce shipments of Galaxy S5 smartphones to SK Telecom (SKT) to penalize it for its "unauthorized" release of the firm's latest cellphone.
However, it remains to be seen if Samsung truly wants to opt for punitive measures, considering SKT is its largest vendor and any reduction in supplies could negatively affect sales of its latest device."Heads we reduce, tails we don't. Keep flipping the coin until it comes up tails."
Barometer: tech >> FT.com
Tim Bradshaw:as San Francisco becomes a one-horse town, it risks becoming detached from mainstream tastes. A consumer app that catches fire with normal folks can be completely ignored here, while things that get the uber-geeks excited don't always transfer to the outside world. Pinterest is an example of this. Millions of Midwestern moms signed up to the online scrapbooking service long before the geeks had heard of it.
But in 2012, around the same time as Pinterest moved to San Francisco, the hot local app was Path. A mobile social network founded by a former Facebook executive, it is a beautiful and useful app. But being Silicon Valley's darling did not help Path to reach the masses, who were soon to fall for something quite different: Snapchat. While filling a similar need – sharing photos on the go – Snapchat is as inelegant and fast as Path is well-crafted and considered.
Data Explorer >> International Telecomms Union
Explore and visualize key ICT indicators from 1960 to 2011 for about 200 economies worldwide by creating line graphs, bar graphs, maps and bubble charts.One for the bookmarks. (When will it get mobile internet connections?)
Everything You Hate About Advertising in One Fake Video That's Almost Too Real | Adweek
Stock video provider Dissolve has taken the text of Kendra Eash's brilliant advertising takedown, "This Is a Generic Brand Video", originally published by McSweeney's, and set it to actual stock video clips.It's quite disquieting.
How scammers turn Google Maps into fantasy land >> Businessweek Dune Lawrence on how a Seattle resident created a fake Secret Service office by making one call and two changes on two websites: The stunt highlights the downside of Google's grand experiment in crowdsourcing, one that's felt mostly by small businesses providing things such as locksmith services, carpet cleaning, and home repairs, according to Seely and other critics.
It's cheap and easy to game the system, putting up false listings with virtual numbers that forward to a main office or call centers, according to Dan Austin, who has been trying to get Google to fix its spam-listing problem for years. Austin, who lives in Olympia, Wash., likes to call himself a "geo specialist" because of all the time he spends on Google Maps.
The company promised four years ago to fix problems with verification, Austin pointed out in a recent blog post. The comments are educational, especially the one from "struggling locksmith". All redolent of this story from January 2014.
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