siddharth s

@TheEnemy
Yes, but why target only Blackberries? Any device capable to strong crypto should come under this anti-terrorism law ... and almost every device out there in the market does.

I get a feeling that Blackberry hasn't paid their dues to a certain politician (i.e. a bribe).

a) I tried the "death grip" on my Blackberry Bold 9700 - it probably dropped a bar. I say probably because it generally fluctuates between 3-4 bars every 20 seconds or so anyways.

b) Apple, ALL phone will exhibit Attenuation i.e. loss of signal power due to obstructions in the middle. Most phone will still have a perfect antenna but an imperfect "enclosure". However, your iPhone 4 ALSO suffers from another defect where the Antenna characteristic itself gets inherently modified when it gets 'shorted' by the skin with the metallic side part. That's in imperfect antenna in an imperfect enclosure = double whammy = the reason this issue is so obviously evident and annoying people. And yes, it does drop calls (7 of my good friends decided to buy your product).

c) Don't whine about it, fix it. A layer of clear coat should prevent any electrical shorting when held in bare hands.

@Lubing The Tube : Because the Apple iPhone has a much stronger branding than Android which is brand-diluted across multiple vendors.

I am a Wii user and I don't approve this message.

@Cactus : FCC rules are complicated - a bunch of different factors like output power (i.e. range), modulation scheme etc. The ideology behind the rules is NOT to provide monopoly powers but more to ensure that the spectrum is split so that radios don't trample each other (no fun for everyone). Having said that, I've not specifically read the FCC spec - I don't interact with them.

@SarnGate: Actually 802.11n MCS7 modulation consumes ~8-10% LESS power than OFDM (802.11g) on the Broadcom chip powering the Google Nexus One.

To others speculating that the phone doesn't need 802.11n speeds, perhaps - but what about the router? Running in 802.11g compatibility hurts the router radio performance a bit, so this is one less device hold the collective network behind. eg. the original iPhone that supported only 802.11b.

Finally, you will be using 802.11n speeds when streaming youtube or downloading Apps or some tasks like that. Sure it's not bandwidth intensive as a datacenter, but bandwidth usage of these devices is on the rise (ask AT&T for this rising trend - though they're suffering only from the bandwidth consumed on their 3G network)

Wow ... I had to switch from my iPhone to a BlackberryBold 9700 for corporate use today and so far I've been hating it. The SW on the BB feels cobbled up (eg. the various desktop manager 'modes' put the BB in different 'modes' vs a unified conduit in normal mode + special bootloader mode). Plus with this stupid BIS layer in the middle (+1 point of failure) vs all-IP mode of the iPhone ... well I'm not too happy. This "BB=Corporate" & "iPhone=fun" image needs to change .. the iPhone does all of that plus remote flash etc. Seriously, as an embedded programmer coding stuff in assembly and C (low levels) I dislike the BB from a technical perspective ... forget human interfaces!
Now .. waiting for BIS to come up ... :( ... unhappy switcher ...

BTW, when I say "disabling hardware" on the 360 ban I mean disabling the ability to use your hard drive on your (banned) console. Sure it still powers up etc ... but they just made a decision on your hardware!

I'd hate to think what would happen if Apple disabled all jailbroken iPhones! (powers up to a "Your modified iPhone has been disabled. Please buy a new unmodified iPhone (visit www.apple.com/iphone)" or something).

Stop the service, not the hardware.

NOT being able to access a service in the future seems about ok for a ToS violation.

BUT disabling or crippling YOUR hardware could very well be an area where the ToS may stretching itself. Also, the ToS is not a law, it's merely an agreement. An agreement although legally executed could very well have illegal/"extra legal"/unenforceable terms in it ... happens quite often. Then it's for the courts to decide what should/shouldn't be enforced given society's preference. The beauty of democracy - love it!

Before you get upset, imagine if Dell/Apple could disable your entire computer system because you didn't use a Dell/Apple branded hard drive/monitor etc. Sure they can stop their warranty (service) but disabling your hardware wouldn't be right, right?

Of course, the clause about timing of the ban sounds ridiculous !! I'm wondering if it's just a marketing plot ... you know, any publicity is good publicity.

You know, NOT being able to access a service in the future seems about ok for a ToS violation. But disabling or crippling your hardware could very well be an area where the ToS may stretching itself. Also, the ToS is not a law, it's merely an agreement. An agreement although legally executed could very well have illegal/"extra legal"/unenforceable terms in it ... happens quite often. Then it's for the courts to decide what should/shouldn't be enforced given society's preference. The beauty of democracy - love it!

Before you get upset, imagine if Dell/Apple could disable your entire computer system because you didn't use a Dell/Apple branded hard drive/monitor etc. Sure they can stop their warranty (service) but disabling your hardware wouldn't be right, right?

Of course, the clause about timing of the ban sounds ridiculous !! I'm wondering if it's just a marketing plot ... you know, any publicity is good publicity.