TECHdodo

Facebook is suing another company for the use of the word book in their domain name. This time it is teachbook.com. There was already an issue with a website named placebook.com, who actually changed their name. Does this mean the word book can’t be used in any domain name anymore?

What about websites like, oh I don’t know books. Can they no longer use the word book in their domain name?

Does Barnes and Noble have to give up book.com or does it only apply to sites with the word book as the end of the domain like ebook.com or textbook.com. Should Facebook tell these websites to change their names too?

What about Kelly Blue Book? I think they have been around a little bit longer than Facebook. Do they have to stop using kellybluebook.com because of Facebook?

How about netbook.com? Hand it over Intel.

Facebook’s argument seems to be that teachbook.com was going to be a social networking site for teachers and they used the word book to capitalize on Facebook’s popularity as a social networking site. Maybe that is true, and maybe they did, but it is getting so almost any website has some sort of social networking aspect to it with users and forums and comments. Where do you draw the distinction of what is or isn’t a social website? Also, just because Facebook uses the word book in their name and happens to be a popular social networking site does not make the word book = social networking. However, that appears to be exactly their argument. They said… Read the rest of this entry »

I have been using Google Voice with Gizmo project to make free outgoing calls for awhile. The other day, I noticed a new contact at the top of my Gmail contacts list. Call Phone. When I clicked on it a phone dial pad popped up. I started typing in a number and as I did, all of my contacts who had phone numbers matching what I started typing appeared. I picked one and made a free call to that contact without having to use Gizmo Project. It was also nice that I didn’t have to go to my Google Voice contacts to initiate the call. I could just type in any phone number and call it right from where I check my email.

It is a nice start.

Oracle is suing Google for infringing patents related to Java. Dalvik is, and always has been, a homegrown version of Java created for the sole purpose of not paying Sun/Oracle royalties for using Java.

While I am sure Google, the company who wants to do no evil, thought this through pretty carefully before releasing Android. They must have decide, and I am sure they have very well payed lawyers to help them make these decisions, that for whatever reason, they could do (get away with) what they are doing. They made a similar bet on YouTube. I didn’t understand how they could get away with at the time, and I still don’t, but it seems to be working for them.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they probably even knew they were going to get sued.

One of the things Oracle is asking for is that Google be stopped from shipping Android any more. If nothing else, this could open up a question of risk from device manufacturers. Again though, I would have to think that all the device manufacturers who are using Android must have considered these risks before deciding to use Android as the operating system for their devices. Imagine going through all of the cost of R&D to develop a device and then not being able to get the operating system that makes it work. Also, if Oracle’s request ever were granted, it would seem that people who already own devices would then be stuck with devices that could no longer be updated. Until it is resolved, just having that threat could be enough to make some people look at other options.

At issue appears to be the fact that Android is for mobile devices, and that version of Java is not as legally open as standard Java.

Competition is a good thing. Last year, as more and more netbook manufactures got into the market, prices plummeted. This year it looks like it may be time for ebook devices to do the same.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Barnes and Noble fired a shot across Amazon’s bow when they released a wifi only version of their Nook ebook reader for $149. Amazon IMMEDIATELY responded by lowering the price of their Kindle ebook reader to $10 below the Nook’s 3g version. Now, they have announced their next generation Kindle. There will be a  wifi only version as well, and they are pricing it $10 below the Nook. Not only will it be cheaper, but it will have a better screen, and better battery life. Release date will be August 27th.

Now the Kindle and Nook are priced where bargain basement priced readers were, just a short time ago. They in turn have to lower their prices to compete. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nook even adjust their price again as the new Kindle’s release date approaches. Also, with these new prices, people who were not even thinking about them before, now are. In the past week, with the publicity of the new Kindle announcement, I have had multiple people ask me about ebook readers; people who never showed any interest before. People who don’t understand the difference between e-ink readers like the Nook and the Kindle and multipurpose devices like the Pan Digital Novel, which is starting to show up in all sorts of unlikely places.

The ready availability of the Nook and the Pan Digital in local markets will introduce the concept of reading books electronically to a whole new market, and their new more appealing pricing will help them finally be accepted by the general public. Maybe it will even get people to read more? We can only hope.

The problems with the Iphone 4 and its penchant for dropping calls if you hold it wrong is an excellent example of how Apple is really just like any other company. This was, in fact, pointed out by none other than Apple’s own CEO Steve Jobs when he demonstrated to the world in a press conference yesterday that the problems the Iphone 4 are not unlike problems other phones have.

Basically they were saying, Yeah their phone drops calls, but all smartphones do. It is the price you pay for having a smartphone. It isn’t a strong argument for owning a smartphone and considering that is the only kind of phone Apple sells, it isn’t a strong argument for buying a phone from Apple.

Does Apple make some cool products? Yes.
Does Apple have some fanatically loyal customers? Yes.
At the end of the day though, Apple is a business and business is about making money.

They released a product with a problem. They were aware of the problem very early on, but didn’t do anything about it for their customers, until they were getting really bad press, because that bad press, in turn, could come back to affect their business and its ability to make money. Then, even though they didn’t deny the problem, they showed examples of how other company’s products had similar problems. Read the rest of this entry »