In a world where 90% of desktops can't even display a JPEG securely, to not have this capability would be dereliction of duty.

You can configure your Nexus 5, and specific apps and services on it, to not use mobile data in the background. In Settings -> Data Usage scroll down and you will see apps. Select the app, scroll down again and you will see the setting "restrict background data". Check this box and it will stop using mobile data while the app is in the background. This is especially critical for things like Google+, where if you take one HD video it will try to sync it in the background and kill your monthly quota. My kids were making videos with my phone while I slept...

Ting looks like a nice deal, and enthusiastic support. I was very frustrated dealing with Sprint to acquire a SIM for my Nexus 5. They were abhorrent in person at three stores and in online chat as well. That kind of put me off. I did finally manage to get SIMs from Ting real easy like. But the experience put me off even of using Sprint towers.

Besides, T-mobile has been really nice to me. That's worth a few extra bucks.

Stay away from Microsoft Skype on your Nexus 5. It has a known issue that kills the battery. Imagine that.

I feel for you. You should see what it's like having to reject the mobile version horror all day. If you liked this article you should read that one about the new blood test that can predict Alzheimer's.

Apparently if you are foolish enough to run Microsoft's Skype on your Nexus 5, they have found a way to kill your battery. This is the same old Microsoft we have always known.

Really I know it's shocking, but one billion smart phones were actually sold last year.

The desktop was once everything there was, and Microsoft's control of it mattered. Now it is one fifth of everything, and Microsoft's control of it doesn't matter any more. Servers have to support these new things that cannot run IE, AD, Outlook and Office because they outnumber PCs 4:1. Corporate cannot ignore 80% of the world. Developers are suddenly aware of cross platform needs. OEMs just cannot afford to keep ignoring this Android/Linux, ChromeOS/Linux demand. And so even on the desktop with 80% share Microsoft has lost the ability to set the pace and path of progress, to keep developers, OEMs, retailers, and VARs in line. They have lost control.

We are here talking about Android/Linux outselling Windows last year by 4x, and what a challenge that is to FirefoxOS/Linux. Congratulations on finding the exact wrongest possible place to put your Windows desktop 4EVAR ad.

By one billion he means per year. This year will be more of course. I think Firefox has some interesting potential, but agree with him that the incredibly high volumes of the low end of the Android device market make for amazing economies of scale. Getting under what components Android can run on may offer less scale and so no net savings at all.

Sprint was a bitch about selling me a SIM for my Nexus 5s for prepaid. Offered to give it for postpaid, refused for prepaid claiming it might hurt my phone. This at their corporate store AND online chat. I had to buy Sprint SIMs from Ting. At this point I am so frustrated with the treatment that I don't think it's worth dealing with their dicky customer support to follow through with service. Plus, T-mo just doubled my 4G data for no extra fee. Ting is looking like a fun company with enthusiastic support if you need Sprint's 4G network though.

The purpose of the existence of DirectX is to prevent cross-platform solutions.

Dude, that is the part of the story you are supposed to fill with your imagination.

The story is that the US Solicitor General (whose office prepared this brief) is a former top lawyer for the MPAA.

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious." Obi-Wan Kenobi

You do know we're talking about Google, right? Why would Google not have those kinds of resources? They scan the Internet every day, upload an hour of video every second, filter spam for hundreds of millions - better than anybody, and they made Android so they have the inside track on detecting undesirable code.

These two things are unrelated. Now you seem to be saying you're complaining about Android security because others complain about the security of your preferred system. That is not relevant. Also, it's a confession that your argument lacks merit. Maybe not the direction you wanted to go.

Now we are talking about a totally different thing - apps which require excessive permissions. As in, the end user gets to decide how much access he is willing to give each application. This is not malware at all and off topic for the discussion, but let's cover it. This is restraining applications that want to be more than the end user wants them to be, giving the end user full disclosure when an update seeks to do things it didn't do before. You make it sound like a bad thing, when in fact it's an enhancement above the other methods of application security provided by the system that empowers the user to be more restrictive than any algorithm could appropriately be. You make it sound like a bad thing. It's not.