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Comment Why do they need to unlock it? (Score 5, Informative) 465

Did she bequeath the iPad or the apps/data on the iPad and the iTunes account to go with it? I'm pretty sure that even if the device is locked, that you can still do a factory reset on it and then have access to the iPad. Granted you would lose all the apps and data on the device, but you would still have the device to use as you wish.

If she bequeathed the iTunes account, then the account email and password should have been in the will or related documents, if not, then it's reasonable to assume she just left the hardware which you can reset and then have full use of.

Comment 45% of all internet subscribers? (Score 1) 160

Since it's unlikely to get 45% of all internet subscribers, consider a reasonable subset of them such as just America/Europe subscribers. However, if it were $50 and I had access to every movie/TV show ever made, I'd pay that every month, and they would probably only need the America/Europe market. Maybe an extra $20/mo for access to 'new releases' provided they were available on the standard plan after maybe 60 (90?) days. They could even do an extra 'HD' surcharge of $20-$30/mo I used to pay more than that for cable and only got access to whatever the channels were running at that time (maybe time-shifted with a DVR, but still required them to run it at some point while my DVR was recording and still had to deal with commercials). I would definitely pay that for access to everything that I could easily search and select from a list and instantly start watching something.

Netflix Instant is nice and all, but it doesn't have the best selection. I've found most of the streaming sites (Netflix Instant, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime), all have about the same stuff. I stream a lot from home, but we always run the risk that the streaming provider could drop a show I like at any point. I think paying a premium to ensure it's always available and that everything ever made is available, is worth it.

Obviously, this is an amazing idea that would revolutionize media content for this new internet age, which means it will never happen.

Comment Define: 'My Media' (Score 1) 187

If I have Netflix streaming, I can watch thousands of movies and TV shows that are not stored locally, so are those 'mine'?

If so, then I have about 0.0000000000001% of my media stored locally since the vast majority of it is accessed on the cloud.

In terms of media that I watch, I stream about 1000 shows or movies for every 1 that might watch from a local collection (if ever).

Comment I/O Bandwidth (Score 3, Interesting) 84

Many 3D engines are carefully tuned to the limited bandwidth to the GPU cards that provides them just enough bandwidth per frame to transfer the necessary geometry/textures/etc for that frame. The results, of course, stay on the GPU card and are just outputted to the frame buffer. Now, in addition to that existing overhead, the engine writer would now have to transfer back the results/frame buffer back to the CPU to process, generate an image, that is then passed back to the GPU to be displayed as an image? Or am I missing something?

While I'm sure it would allow customized algorithms, they would have to be rather unique to not be handled by the current state of geometry/vertex/fragment shaders. Are they thinking some of non-triangular geometry?

Maybe there is a way to send the result of the maths directly to the frame buffer while it's on the GPU?

Comment Re:How Blackberry could remain relevant (Score 1) 278

Samsung did this already. It's called Knox. As most Android vendors have discovered, competing with Samsung is a losing proposition.

True, but if anyone could compete with Samsung in the mindshare of the enterprise, it would be Blackberry. Samsung is pouring tons of money into building their mindshare and awareness in the enterprise space, something that Blackberry already has.

If that could easily be done, they would have done it for BB 10. And honestly, can you name one BlackBerry app worth having that doesn't exist on Android already? Ironically, BB did build Android compatibility into BB 10... but it apparently hasn't made the platform any more popular.

Yes, I was thinking later that this was more optional and extraneous. It would depend on how many enterprise apps were already custom made for Blackberry, not for games or other novelties that are Blackberry-only.

Comment How Blackberry could remain relevant (Score 3, Interesting) 278

Blackberry could succeed on their name, if they tweaked their brand a little and adopt a more 'Samsung' approach. Their name is already synonymous with enterprise level email, service and solutions, so capitalize on that, just with a different platform.

  • 1. Create an enterprise hardened version of Android
  • 2. Integrate with their existing Blackberry Enterprise Server (and of course other email providers, but provide a good business case for using their services like uptime, security, no NSA snooping, etc
  • 3. Provide a compatibility layer/VM for existing Blackberry apps on their devices

This would provide end users with a standard Android platform just with more security features (maybe fingerprint, retina scan, whatever, and market it for security conscious individuals), and it would provide enterprises with a trusted platform.

Individuals will still get an Android platform with all those apps, and Businesses will get a platform that plugin into a standard Android ecosystem.

Anyways, those are my thoughts about how they could still make it work

BTW, Blackberry, if you're looking for a new CEO or VP-level manager to implement this solution, I'm available.

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