Friday, August 3, 2012

A Fanboy Defends Apple's Neo-Mercantilist Course

Apple was once a technology company, but instead of continuing to innovate, Apple is now more and more becoming dependent on the government to help keep its competitors out of the market. Apple's neo-mercantilist moves against Samsung are a good example of this.

Where Steve jobs once said:

We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas

Apple now uses patents to keep its competitors from selling and developing products.

In his article "From Innovation to Rent Seeking", Doug French comments on the madness that is Patents And Copyright:

Instead of spurring innovation, IP [Intellectual Property] appears to be a rat's nest of litigation. For example, Google's chief legal officer, David C. Drummond, estimates that a modern smartphone might be susceptible to as many as 250,000 potential patent claims.

Today, Apple Fanboy Jason D. O'Grady, entirely misses the point and tries to defend Apple's despicable tactics in an article that looks more like an advertisement for Apple than the work of someone with at least a tiny bit of journalistic integrity.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

What is OUYA?

The Ouya is an upcoming game console built on the Android mobile OS. Julie Uhrman (CEO of Boxer8) founded the project. She brought in designer Yves BĂ©har to collaborate on the design of the project, and Muffi Ghadiali as product manager. The console is slated for release in March 2013. Boxer8 is expected to provide their own OUYA store for apps and games:

OUYA is a new game console for the TV, powered by Android. We've packed this little box full of power. Developers will have access to OUYA's open design so they can produce their games for the living room, taking advantage of everything the TV has to offer.

Hardware specifications (2012 prototype):

  • Nvidia Tegra 3 (T33) quad-core ARM processor
  • 1 GB RAM
  • 8 GB of internal flash storage
  • HDMI connection to the TV (with support for up to 1080p HD)
  • WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)
  • Bluetooth LE 4.0
  • Ethernet port
  • 1 USB 2.0 port
  • Wireless controller sporting two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button, and 3" touchpad
  • Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" (modified version)

The physical dimensions of the OUYA console are expected to be around the size of a Rubik's cube.