If true, the info you want was posted above:

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1886544&cid=34366366

http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=023000QNLD00&full_skip=1

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Apple-Android-Sales-Soar-Despite-Component-Shortages-in-Q3-692598/

Last I heard, Android was activating 200k handsets per day.

Bedwetting over whether Android or iPhone is better is reaching tidal levels.

RIM continues to decline. WebOS is not setting any sales records.

WMP7 _could_ turn things around and make MS powerful in the cell phone market - but seriously, it just looks like too little, too late to me.

The new Android wave is driven by converts, unhappy with what was out there.

I see nothing driving a WMP7 wave beyond legacy users - and that's not going to be good enough.

Even the apologists are describing Android "like the new Windows on smartphones." God forbid they come out and admit that Android is Linux and that they never got that the OSes should work for us - not polarize us into fan camps.

But I could be wrong. It's entirely possible that the best thing you could do would be to completely trust Microsoft to build a compact operating system that works swimmingly on much-less-than-desktop hardware.

Meanwhile, Android and iOS are proving to be effective at driving handsets and tablets.

And - it's right here:

http://www.geekandproud.net/terror/

Remember that wonderful New Coke?

Yeah, I know. It's safer to call it a version of Linux - root it and run ps from adb and there's no doubt.

But - for those that think in terms of Linux distros with things like rpm and debian installers, Android is other.

Pass the GC-AT-AT-GC...?

No thanks, I'll have the turkey!

(Well how about the cranberries? They don't have much AT...)

So - do we sing the genome to the tune of Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam?

USB would give quickly allow access to USB-based devices like hard drives and burners - the apps would come.

I think the manufacturers are simply walling things in to protect their low-end laptops.

If true, I'd point the finger for the USB design shortfall at marketing and management, not R&D, fwiw.

I don't know that Acer rules any roost, so I think the point of this story is that tablets are getting bigger, more powerful and hopefully, as implied by the Acer name - cheaper.

So far as I can tell, the big winner here is the 10" screen - using tired old LCD tech.

Personally, I think where tablets lose is the display (not e-ink) and for those that may be interested, there's an Android tablet on the horizon with Pixel Qi tech and Qualcomm's Mirasol is also something to know about:

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2010/11/05/pixel-qi-powered-notion-ink-adam-android-tablet-in-time-for-the-holidays/

For some other tablet alternatives - http://www.anythingbutipad.com/

(I got nothing against the iPad, that's just a halfway decent site for a tablet alternative.)

My 2 cents on tablet ownership would be - match your OS to your cell phone if you can because it makes your transition from one device to another smoother and tablets should be all about ease of use. In that sense, Acer's move to offer these things in Androids and Windows shows real insight on their part (and no sad surprise - no Linux out of the box, again).

I'm OS agnostic and believe in the right OS for the job, fwiw.

Fixed that for ya.

Dad needs and wants both, doesn't he?

When you root your Android phone, you can remove any bundleware (great term, thanks!) you want - but moreover, you can change the desktop (launcher) itself, you can go with kernel variations.

Everyone's talking about root like it's something goofy.

It's simple: it's superuser (Administrator to Windows-only users) access.

You can plug your phone in to a Linux/Mac/Win machine via USB and access whatever you want via a command line.

The way God intended.

You can pay Sprint for the privilege of wifi tethering, per month - or you can root and do it yourself.

You can buy a backup application - or you can use the command line and do it yourself.

There are a few Androids that you can't do this with - such as the Droid X, where you can root it, but you can't replace the rom image.

Otherwise, if any of you are the least bit knowledgeable of why preemptive multi-tasking with superuser control of your device is a good thing, then you want Android.

It's just that simple.

And no - task killers are sufficient for bundleware and neither do they innocently sit quiescent doing nothing. The Sprint crap on the EVO - as well that most popular malware, Facebook - and that Amazon MP3 store thing - were constantly waking up.

And given that these phones use scalable processors whose actual CPU speed varies based on load and number of apps being serviced, yes, they do impact battery life.

And the rm command is alive and well.

OBTW - they say rooting voids your warranty. yeah. big deal. you can remove your root access and leave no trace.

With iOS, you violate your TOS and you jailbreak. With Android, you gain superuser (root) access.

Words mean things. /rant.

Yeah, that's great. I believe the apps I pointed out do not affect the carriers' backbone in any way.

They affect my data usage however, by installing things that give me the latest NASCAR and NFL stats - whether I want that bloat or not.

Me me me - it's my money.

According to what rule?

And who laid that down?

So - the entire class of apps is just wrong according to your theory: ringtones, volume modifiers, brightness modifiers, radio on/off controls, anything that changes the stock performance of contacts, calendars and call lists, on screen clock and weather widgets that replace or repair included widgets, soft keypad and dialer replacements, news aggregators, email client replacements, text-to-voice replacements, navigation replacements...

We're all supposed to pay out the nose and drink from the trough like pigs because there's some rule that phones aren't SUPPOSED to be user-modifiable?

Seriously - here's your new phone:

http://www.tias.com/10782/PictPage/1923012113.html

Usable device is a subjective term.

HTC's Sense UI is a product differentiator as is the hardware. Like Apple or RIM or any other company, they slather their UI onto the hardware knowing that that's sufficient for many/most users to get what they want.

When it's time to use things outside their box, it's root time.

Android isn't mature. It's just not. I agree with you, root access should be easy to come by - but just as easy to avoid, few people running as root in Linux all of the time should be doing that. Until there's a sudo equivalent for Android, we'll face this problem.

There are only two reasons to lock users out of an Android phone - 1) to keep the unwashed from creating service nightmares by uninstalling things in /system that didn't meet their unwashed scruntiny, and 2) to protect the phony baloney interests of bloatware.

I rooted my Evo just to get rid of Qik, Sprint apps (except TV) and that freaking Amazon MP3 Store app that started to decide it owned my phone.

In summary I agree with you with the proviso that more than just stock/root options are needed, in my opinion.

That's what a classroom for a kid is supposed to be?

It's not tough enough for any kid to figure out what's going on in the world?

In other news today:

Teacher Provided Grant to Study Creative Defense of Incompetency
NEA Announces Press Release Tomorrow