OpenMoko Cancels FreeRunner

From Gizmodo:

OpenMoko's FreeRunner, the original open source (hardware and software) Linux phone, made us oh so excited back in the day, before Android and the iPhone. And now it's dead.

Gee, what a surprise.

The future of motoring

James May from Top Gear on why Hydrogen powered cars are the future.

Apple TV Software Update 2.3

I knew my decision to buy a remote control-less valve amp for my Apple TV was the right one.

More here.

iPhone comes to Egypt without GPS functions

Interesting to see that Apple are compromising on the feature set of the iPhone in some countries. From MacNN:

Notable is that functionality of the iPhone has been artificially restricted in the country, as the Egyptian government has placed a ban on GPS devices. The country is not the first to offer iPhones with limitations; in India the phone lacks 3G functionality, and it is believed that a Chinese version could be stripped of both 3G and Wi-Fi.

The Cloud is Coming

Google, on the reliability of Gmail:

Looking just at the unplanned outages that catch IT staffs by surprise, these results suggest Gmail is twice as reliable as a Novell GroupWise solution, and four times more reliable than a Microsoft Exchange-based solution that companies must maintain themselves.

First class, first time

Quality.

Up here, I am in ensconsed in my own private cocoon, one where gourmet food from a seven-course menu is rushed to your linen-draped table at a whim, a James Bond-style minibar rises from your armrest at the push of a button and the bubbly flows like Kakadu in monsoon season.

More to the story?

The controversy over what Apple will and won't accept on the App Store continues.

John Gruber wrote an insightful piece yesterday called The Fear. His theory; the four apps in the iPhone dock are sacrosanct and that's the reason the two high profile apps, Podcaster and MailWrangler were rejected. He say:

Taken together, these three factors lead to The Fear, which is that developers cannot trust the App Store process. You can spend all of the time and effort it takes to build an app, follow every known rule, and still get rejected.

But that theory falls apart when you note that there are now more than three VOIP apps available via the app store. Could it be perhaps that those two apps just weren't good enough, didn't meet the HIG that meet Apple's exacting standards?

Etherkiller writes:

And all of a sudden, when we step back and look at the facts, and the whole picture, we see that the truth is far less dramatic than the hysteria that has driven tens of thousands of page views.

No doubt Apple can improve their processes, but just remember the App Store is still in its infancy. Let's give Apple some more time to nut out the issues, and some breathing space before wishing it the kiss of death.