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Comment Re:All in (Score 1) 366

Making a 5-year commitment in order to get a 6-month head start, where everyone knows they can just wait?

I think you are underestimating the amount of people who are not willing to wait 6 months.

Comment Re:heh (Score 2) 206

I'm unsure how anyone could have imagined that the on-screen keyboard for the $79 model would be touch. Every bit of info. I've seen from Amazon comparing the models makes it incredibly clear that it doesn't have a touch screen.

Indeed. I picked up the $79 model (well, $100 without ads) exactly because it didn't have touchscreen. I tend to hold my Kindle in a way that rests at least one finger on the screen. I do not want it doing stuff because of that.

And I've never actually used the keyboard on my old Kindle, so the lack of one felt like an added feature. But I guess this new type of move-cursor-keyboard will be annoying for those who do use it.

As for the 3G part, that seems like a bigger deal. The 3G versions cost more than the WiFi versions, and I would assume at least some people who bought wanted to use it for browsing.

Comment Re:are you kidding me? (Score 3, Insightful) 305

I tried switching from FF3 to FF6 recently. I did not like it at all.
Currently been running Chrome for a few days, it's OK, but has some irritating issues (for me).

Will try Opera next week.
Then IE.
Then I will give up and move to some deserted island and avoid modern browsers for ever.

Comment Re:Says the manufacturer of cells (Score 1) 124

While data speeds will of course depend a lot on how large cells the network operator is using, the number of users in that cell, the usage pattern of each user etc etc, latency should be overall noticeably lower in an LTE network compared to 3G networks of today.

A lot of the latency that is felt by the user is caused by the Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure, and the way that the core network operates. In LTE, a lot of design decisions have been made that aim to reduce latency, in part by simplifying the RAN and in part by modernizing the core networks.

Computer gaming (highly latency sensitive stuff like shooters) is commonly mentioned as a key application for LTE users.

Comment Re:This is just Opera Mini/Turbo (Score 5, Insightful) 249

Interrupt 21h won't care what's in al, so you don't need to clear it.

Well, whoever spawned the process in question might care, since AL is the return/error code after termination!

You kids these days code like everyone has megabytes of RAM just lying around.

I would have thought you old timers had learned your lessons about skimping on what you assumed to be unimportant bytes ;)

Comment Re:This is just Opera Mini/Turbo (Score 1) 249

As far as I can tell, there is no bandwidth saved using EC2, only processor time (and, in turn, battery life). The pictures aren't degraded in quality like they were on the Turbo.

Except that, according to TFA:

The service also uses content compression techniques, such as re-encoding video and images before sending them to a device.

Comment Re:WANT! (Score 1) 386

Cell towers use the GPS time signal for hand-over and so on.

They can, yes. Much more common is for the central node (RNC) to run on GPS time, and the nodes at the towers to synchronize to the ATM link they're hooked up to.

And even if they do run on a straight GPS feed, the hold-over time for the timing circuits is good enough that you probably need to jam it for several days to see an effect, giving the operator time enough to take counter-measures.

Comment Re:I hope the tourists don't wreck it. (Score 2) 207

There have been tourist trips to Chernobyl for over a decade already. I was there this summer.

Pripyat is already wrecked, since there have been a lot of looters going through the area. Our guide told us that the apartment buildings are completely stripped by now, even the toilet seats are gone.

We visited an abandoned school as well. The old swimming pool area had obviously been used by kids who went there to drink Vodka and smash the place.

Comment Re:Any user-defined throttles? (Score 2) 273

LTE is primarily targeted at computers and similar devices, not mobile phones (yes, that is one target market as well, but not the prime market).

I have seen presentations from more than one operator that wants to try and convert people away from fixed broadband to HSPA/LTE even for home use, altough I do not know what Verizon is planning. But in my mind, LTE on a smart-phone is overkill, at least for the foreseeable future, unless you use it as a modem.

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