January 18th marks a day that huge sites like Reddit, Wikipedia and many others – just noticed that OSNews.com is also protesting as well as a black bar over Google’s logo at Google.com – plan to shut down their sites in protest of the highly controversial Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act. Why should you care?

(SOPA) would authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. After delivering a court order, the U.S. Attorney General could require US-directed Internet service providers, ad networks, and payment processors to suspend doing business with sites found to infringe on federal criminal intellectual property laws. The Attorney General could also bar search engines from displaying links to the sites.

Effectively, all it would take would be a complaint from somebody in the MPAA and RIAA, or some intellectual property (proven or not) holder will be able to complain that your website is an agent of some form of piracy. This is an oversimplified look at what these bills provide and attempt to do; however it’s an attempt to stop foreign websites from pirating American software, movies and music. And to do so, it grants these rights holders the ability to influence your ISP to block sites as well as disallow search engines to display results that they deem are infringing on their rights.

To date, DNS/ISP blocking has been removed from these controversial bills. But there’s still a lot of “teeth” in the bills that allow intellectual property and copyright holders the ability to point their finger and have a website deemed a website that’s committing piracy.

You don’t have to imagine where this is going. Go to YouTube now and you will not being able to hear some more music since the Universal Music Group (UMG) has disallowed uploading any of their catalog. Now imagine that power Internet wide. That’s just the start. And there are no provisions against false accusations. The burden of proof is on the site to prove their innocence.

So what is piracy? We all know websites that allow wholesale downloading of movies, music and software *cough*PirateBay*cough* but with highly visible sites like YouTube being monitored already, imagine the entire Internet under that type of scrutiny. Love a song, link to a YouTube video that’s not yet censored, you might be considered contributing to piracy. That’s a bit extreme, but who’s saying that it will not end there. Sure, some sites do nothing but link to pirated material. There’s no use for those sites other than assisting piracy. Fine, go after those sites.

But SOPA and PIPA are structured mainly to restrict access to the Internet based on rules, accusations and the lawyers that they employ that are always shifting to support their agendas. And that agenda is simply to make money from what they consider lost sales to piracy. In many cases, historically, it’s been proven that those that will pirate were not going to buy the software/music/movie anyway. And in the end, those that are paying customers walk away with the feeling that they are being treated like criminals.

Bills like this have existed in one form or another for the last decade. Ten years ago, SSSCA was another attempt at such a law that empowered the film and music industry and regulate all digital media via restricting and downright crippling copy restriction preventative measures. Think DRM on a much more invasive level – but not as invasive as Sony Music putting a rootkit on your PC.

Learn more about PIPA and SOPA. Write your representatives, even the ones that do not support PIPA/SOPA. Boycott the companies that support SOPA and PIPA. Make your voice and opinion known. And find out why Lamar Smith (Republican – Texas) is so damn hung up on this bill.

[ Links: SOPA, SOPA and PIPA: Just the Facts ]

Man, this is getting ridiculous! From March of this year when 4.0 was released, Mozilla has hit a new high gear and released version 8.0. Yes… 7 months, 4 major versions and Firefox is not hitting version 8 – something that took Microsoft almost a dozen years to do.

Firefox 8.0 adds the following improvements:

• Add-ons installed by third party programs are now disabled by default
• Added a one-time add-on selection dialog to manage previously installed add-ons
• Added Twitter to the search bar for select locales. Additional locale support will be added in the future
• Added a preference to load tabs on demand, improving start-up time when windows are restored
• Improved performance and memory handling when using
• Added CORS support for cross-domain textures in WebGL
• Added support for HTML5 context menus
• Added support for insertAdjacentHTML
• Improved CSS hyphen support for many languages
• Improved WebSocket support
• Fixed several stability issues
• Fixed several security issues

So far, I’ve seen improvements in memory. And knowing that it’s also more secure, I’ll rest easier. You know where to get it, but just in case: Download Firefox 8.0 from Mozilla.org

Also updated for Android too.

[ Links: Mozilla Firefox 8.0 Features ]

Samsung and Google have announced the newest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich aka 4.0 and Samsung has popped up with the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Nexus, probably the worst kept secret in history.

4.65-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD screen
1.2GHz dual-core processor
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash
1.3-megpaixel front-facing camera
1080p HD video capture and playback
1GB of RAM
16GB or 32GB internal memory versions
1750mAh battery
Bluetooth 3.0
NFC support
Barometer
8.94mm thick
135g (weight)
Pentaband HSPA+
LTE available by region

There’s USB 2.0, WiFi a/b/g/n, a compass, a barometer!?, and perhaps one of the best looking, high resolution screens on any phone out there. Google Face Unlock also comes with the phone to provide for a cool and secure unlock system.

Rumored prices start at $299 on-contract, no word about the unlocked price yet.

On September 4th, AT&T unveiled its first 4G LTE/HSPA+ tablet, the HTC Jetstream. It’s also the first 4G tablet to run on the Android 3.1 Honeycomb operating system (which is specifically designed for mobile devices and tablets).

The JetStream comes pre-loaded with AT&T Family Map, HTC Hub, HTC Watch, Friendstream, AT&T Navigator and Android Market. Thanks to the Honeycomb OS, the JetStream also includes easy access to Google Talk (including video chat), Chrome browser and the new Google Maps 5.0.

In addition, the HTC Jetstream uses the HTC Sense UX for a high quality graphical interface. The front facing 1.3 mexapixel camera (and 8 megapixel rear facing), in conjunction with the 10.1″ WXGA HD screen makes photography and online printing a breeze.

In fact, the only real drawback to the JetStream is price. Unlike other tablets such as the 32GB 3G iPad, the JetStream retails for $699.99 with a two year contract. Consumers aren’t happy with the on contract price, and with AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile, fear more price hikes in the future.

Contract Details:
The JetStream is $699.99 with a new two-year contract. AT&T offers two payment plans: prepaid and postpaid.

• Postpaid: $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB. Fee for going over their allotment: $10 per 1 GB of overage. Charges appear on monthly statements.
• Prepaid: $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB. Fee for going over their allotment: $25 an additional 2 GB of overage. Charges appear on monthly statements.

You can see full pricing details on the HTC JetStream here.

Adam Costa, our guest blogger. He is the co-author of Business In A Backpack, which explains how to market your business while on the road and a business consultant who helps small and midsize firms create high quality marketing materials, like booklet printing.

Android and Me has noted that Best Buy will sell the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), ever-so-slightly curved 4″ Super AMOLED screen and other goodies that set the Nexus S as the standard for all upcoming Android phones.

Today Best Buy issued another statement to let customers know that all Best Buy stores and Best Buy Mobile stand-alone locations will be selling the Nexus S. Despite what your local store might say, this includes every location including those that do not regularly carry T-Mobile devices.

The important thing to note is that if your store does not regularly carry T-Mobile phones and you want to purchase one on contract for $199, you will not be walking out of the store with a device. Instead you will have to place your order online and then have the Nexus S delivered to your home. However, if you want to buy it off contract for $529 then it will of course go home with you on launch day.

Bad news.. T-Mobile only – I’m still on AT&T. Good news… it’s going to be sold in stores all over, much unlike the Google Nexus.

[ Links: Android and Me: Best Buy Will Sell the Nexus S ]

At the tail end of last month, the FTC dropped their inquiry into the Google Wi-Fi Street View kerfuffle, satisfied by Google’s argument that their collection of user Wi-Fi data was a screw up, the data wasn’t particularly useful, and that Google had made changes to prevent this from happening again. That supports studies from earlier this year showing that Google vehicles were moving too quickly, and changing channels too frequently, to really collect much useful information from the unsecured hotspots passed.

The FCC this week confirmed they too have been investigating Google, adding their inquiry to several already underway by numerous state attorneys general. Meanwhile, Joe Barton, most famous recently for apologizing to BP for their “unfair” treatment during the gulf oil spill, is accusing Google of lying:

Key Republicans and Democrats in Congress have indicated that the privacy issues raised by Google’s Street View data collection could be a factor when lawmakers consider new Internet privacy legislation next year. Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, a senior Republican lawmaker, suggested last week on C-SPAN that Google’s data collection wasn’t accidental and that it was “something to look at.”

So why is Barton, a guy who apologized to AT&T for FCC efforts to protect consumers, concerned about Google? Barton’s traditionally a pretty loyal political player for AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, who may be trying to make a little extra policy hay out of Google’s screw up. A new battle looms over privacy laws, and numerous companies (including Microsoft and AT&T) are trying to get privacy laws passed that make disrupting Google’s market power a priority, and consumer protection an afterthought.

The more fear that can be raised concerning Google, the easier it will be for companies who supposedly loathe regulation to get Google heavily regulated. While Google screwed up here, raising very serious questions about how clueless Google is about what they’re doing on a daily basis, there’s no evidence their Wi-Fi collection problem was intentional or malicious. And unlike like some companies that trample privacy laws, Google has at least been very honest about the fact they screwed up.

Link to the original article…

Logitech this week fully unveiled their GoogleTV-based broadband video device over at the company blog, and began pre-orders via their website. The skinny: the $300 Logitech Revue with Google TV comes with a wireless keyboard and directional pad, a flurry of Google apps (including Netflix support) and broadband streaming capabilities.

There’s also a slew of accessories, including a $150 HD video chat camera, a $100 larger keyboard, and $130 mini controller.

Dish Network meanwhile says they’re going to sell the device for $179 instead of $300 but charge an ongoing yet to be determined monthly fee.

Link to the original article…

You might recall the big stink raised last year after Apple banned Google Voice from the application store. AT&T and Apple of course played dumb to suggestions that either acted anti-competitively to block an application that poses a significant threat to both the old telco or phone OS business models.

With Uncle Sam sniffing around Apple on numerous fronts, Apple recently eased iPhone developer restrictions and now it appears that the official Google Voice app will finally be arriving on the iPhone. According to Techcrunch, the app has actually already been approved and will pop up soon:

…we’ve gotten word that the official Google Voice application is on its way to the iPhone in the next few weeks. In fact, we’ve heard from a source close to Google that it’s already been approved Google just needs to revamp the application to work with the iPhone 4 and iOS’s multitasking capabilities. If you’re a Google Voice user and you’re on an iPhone, this is great news.

As already explored at length, applications like Google Voice are going to speed up the death of concepts like SMS and voice minutes, given that things like mobile VoIP and push IM make them irrelevant. With reduction in that revenue, carriers like AT&T and Verizon are eagerly looking forward to jacking up mobile data costs with new low cap, high overage data plans.

Link to the original article…

I’m writing this while waiting for some work to be done on my car; but if anything I am sitting here reminded how over the last 2 days or so, I have been reclaiming my original setup due to the disastrous OTA by AT&T for my Samsung Captivate.

And celebrating how the Android communities helped me out in more than just a few ways.

So what happened? While out and about, I noticed that the phone was communicating with AT&T and downloading something. Since I am on that ultra-restrictive 200mb data plan per month, I canceled it. Bad thing to do.  According to MANY reports at the XDA-Developers forums, that is the last thing you want to do. In fact that is one action that will actually brick your phone. Not the lag fix, not gaining root access to your phone, not overclocking to 1.2ghz, nor flashing community sourced firmware.

No. Canceling an OTA update may brick your phone. And is there a warning? Nope.

So after a few hours of frantic searching and research, I used Odin to flash back to JF6, obtained root again, installed ROM Manager, used the Clockwork Mod to flash the Cognition 2.1.1 update that included the JH7 OTA update, applied the Voodoo lag fix, recovered from my Titanium Backup of my apps and fine tuned the settings and contacts.

And speaking of the contacts; that service from AT&T sucks. It will overwrite instead of merge each and everytime. Not cool AT&T. Y’all already on my bad side. Due to the restrictive data and a healthy fear of getting overcharged for data of all things.
AT&T… I cannot say that I’m happy with you. Android community; you’re the true heroes in my book.

If the Android community has helped you out, I insist that you donate to them. I have.

Why did you get a smartphone with the fastest processor and huge amount of RAM and a graphics processor that makes a prior generation video game system green with envy? For animated weather, that’s why.

Okay… perhaps not. But still, this application for Google Android phones is real impressive to say the least.

The exquisitely realistic video effects of cloudiness, rain and snow provide the vivid sensation of current or future weather conditions for more than 50,000 locations over the world.

• Animated daily weather forecast
• Realistic Video effects of cloudiness, rain and snow
• Multiple scene backgrounds
• Global world weather
• 50,000+ locations worldwide
• Auto update forecast

Currently on sale from $9.95 down to $4.95 for the Pro version in the Android Market, there’s also a Free version for your phone as well with widgets being promised sooner than later.

[ Links: Animated Weather Application for Android, MobilityFlow ]

After quite a while of waiting, OtterBox has finally unleashes pictures of their Commuter and Defender cases for the Samsung Captivate. Although not on sale yet – feel free to sign up for notification when they will be released – they look nice, sleek and above all protective of your precioussss Samsung Captivate.

Priced at $49.95 for the Defender and $34.95 for the Commuter. I know which one I’ll be getting!

[ Links: OtterBox Defender Case for Captivate, Commuter Case ]

“White space” broadband technology could use unlicensed and partially vacated spectrum created by the shift to digital television to create a new wireless broadband delivery system. You’ll recall that in 2008 the National Association of Broadcasters was busy bickering with the companies pushing white space usage (Dell, Google, Microsoft), and the FCC began fielding comments on possible rules for the technology. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FCC may vote on final white space rules at their upcoming September meeting, though the agency has a mountain of unresolved issues already on their plate.

Link to the original article…