Media Sync: iTunes Syncing on HTC, Nokia, Sony, and Sony Ericsson Devices
Obviously, if you love iTunes but do not own an iPhone, syncing your music can be frustrating. Salling Software has developed a solution to this problem with Media Sync—an app that transfers playlists, music and podcasts to a wide array of Nokia, Sony, and Sony Ericsson phones (also works in a limited fashion with the HTC Touch Diamond). The basic Windows / Mac software is free, but you will have to shell out $22 for the fast sync version. And, naturally, it does not transfer DRM protected tunes. [Salling via Cult of Mac]
Popularity: 2% [?]
First Android Release Will Have iPhone-Style Crippled Bluetooth, No Google Talk
Over on the official Android Developers Blog, Googler Dan Morrill has news of what won’t be making it into Android 1.0—a full featured-Bluetooth stack and data messaging via Google Talk API. Android 1.0 will work with Bluetooth headsets, but won’t do other things like send files or link up to a PoGo printer, just like the iPhone. Google Talk will be missing completely. Thankfully, the reasoning behind both decisions seems to make sense: Google Talk’s security is nowhere near where it needs to be in order to function as the core IM service for a huge mobile platform as intended, and a full Bluetooth API simply isn’t done yet, but both should show up in future iterations. Apparently any frameworks in the 1.0 SDK would be impossible to greatly change down the road, so it sounds like Google’s taking the smart route and not rushing out inferior code. [Android Developers Blog via PC Mag]
Popularity: 6% [?]
Phew: Cute iPhone Factory Girl Fired Didn’t Get Fired
After a Foxconn factory worker had adorable snapshots of her discovered in a brand new iPhone and posted all over the internet, many worried that she would be fired—or you know, worse. A Foxconn rep told a Chinese newspaper that “she is definitely not fired,” and that the pictures were test photos “accidentally” left on the iPhone. He didn’t comment on the number of lashings she received. I’m glad that all worked out, I wouldn’t want Adam’s conscience burdened by the fact he ruined some girl’s life while he’s vacationing on the Cape. [Macrumors]
Popularity: 3% [?]
New AT&T iPhone International Data Plans Ream You Slightly Less Hard
Your current options for international data from AT&T are 20MB for $24.99 or 50 MB for $59.99—ream city, though there’s no lube at all if you don’t have international data roaming, as Blam found out when he came back from Brazil, where AT&T’s int’l roaming doesn’t cover. AT&T now has two iPhone specific plans: 100MB for $120, and 200MB for $200, a savings of $0 and $40, respectively. Still, ouch. [AT&T]
Popularity: 3% [?]
Cranky Windows Guy: Apple’s iPhone Bugs Stopped Me From Switching to a Mac
I’ve always been a Windows user, which means I’ve always been subjected to the ridicule of holier-than-thou Apple fans. You know what I’m talking about: blue screen of death jokes, spelling Microsoft with a $ in place of the S, saying “it just works” with a smug, chubby-faced smirk. It’s always been annoying, and it’s always made me want to avoid using Apple products just so I wouldn’t turn into one of those people. But then the iPhone came out, and I wanted it. But I being a Windows dude, I knew to wait a year for what I thought would be a more complete, less buggy version. It was Apple’s opportunity to get me into the fold, to make me a member of the cult. And boy, did they blow it.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
