Thank you for your patience! An AT&T sales representative will be with you shortly.

You are now chatting with an AT&T sales representative.

AT&T: Welcome to AT&T online Sales support.  How may I assist you with placing your order today?

Me: Do you carry the HTC Pure new anymore? All I see is refurbished, there isn’t even a page for the new device.

AT&T: I will be happy to assist.

AT&T: HTC is coming out with new phones pretty soon.

Me: Will they be similar to the Pure?

AT&T: Better since they will have Android technology.

Me: Wow, that sounds great. Do you know if they will be touchscreen like the Pure, or have a keyboard?

AT&T: Touch screen.

Me: When might I expect to be able to get one? I’m looking to buy soon, but I could wait a few weeks

AT&T: Anytime now or summer.

Me: Sounds great. Thanks for the heads up. I just did a quick web search, would this happen to be one of the devices? http://pocketnow.com/tech-news/att-htc-pc70110-is-the-android-touch-pro2

AT&T: The Hero is one of them the second one we do not have official word yet.

Me: Would it possibly be the Legend or the Desire? I’m a little confused about the Hero, since that’s an older device, the Legend is basically the successor to it. So might they be the Legend and Desire?

AT&T: Maybe if you type upcoming phones to AT&T you may get additional information.

Me: So you cannot confirm if either the Legend or Desire are one of these devices?

AT&T: Not yet since we do not have official Information, we are getting a new iPhone by June.

Me: Just wondering do you know the date on that?

AT&T: By the end of June.

Me: Thanks

Me: Have a great day

Sadly, the majority of Steve Jobs’ reasons make little sense to most of us.  Jobs bashes Flash for not being open, yet comes of as highly hypocritical.  The Flash core is in fact open source, and the SWF specification is open, so literally anyone can make tools for Flash development and publish on the web in Flash format without giving a cent to Adobe.  Apple, on the other hand, is the king of the “walled garden” business model.  Every iPhone and iPad application must pass through an arbitrary process of selection, in which perfectly good apps are rejected for no apparent reason.  Apple also directly prohibits the use of third party development tools, requiring that all programmers join the $99/year developer program.  As usual, Apple comes off as highly egotistical and hypocritical.

Steve goes on to present a number of other arguments, most of which have been proven to be false.  Contrary to his claims, Flash can and does run wonderfully on mobile devices.  Microsoft, Google, and Palm have all publicly pledged to support Adobe in their efforts to bring Flash to phones; as you will see in the video below of Flash on the Nexus One, Google is almost ready to launch Android 2.2 with full Flash support that works just beautifully. Steve tends to back HTML 5, but only succeeds in confusing users.  HTML 5 is not a replacement for Flash, it is simply a new way of providing multimedia content through standard HTML.  This is evident by Hulu’s recent choice to stick with Adobe Flash with their slick new player redesign; Flash simply provides much broader functionality that isn’t present in the HTML standard.

But what if there is a reason behind Steve Jobs’ odd public disapproval of Flash?  Consider his track record:

1. Steve Jobs for years stated that no one wanted to watch video on a portable device such as an iPod.  Then what happened?  Shortly after, Apple released the iPod Video, and every iPod since has supported video playback.
2. Apple trumpeted DRM as the solution to the big record companies’ fears of online music sales.  Millions (billions?) of songs were sold with the restrictive technology.  Then what happened?  Apple began selling its entire catalog in DRM-free MP3s, then requiring users to pay an upgrade fee to obtain DRM-free versions of already purchased tracks.
3. When the iPhone first launched, it did not support third party apps.  Apple was plugging Web Apps, saying that they were the future and could serve all of your needs.  Then what happened?   Apple launched the App Store, which now holds nearly 200,000 apps.
4. When the iPhone launched, it came without 3G, despite the technology’s vast superiority and the fact that dozens of phones already had 3G available.  Steve Jobs claimed that 3G was too much of a drain on the phone’s battery. Then what happened?  Apple launched the iPhone 3G and 3GS.
5. Until the debut of iPhone OS 4, the iPhone OS has not supported any kind of multi-tasking.  Unlike Windows Mobile, Android, and Palm WebOS, the iPhone has until now restricted the user to one activity at a time.  Apple has claimed that multi-tasking is too much of a drain on battery and is too confusing for the end user.  Then what happened?  Apple put multi-tasking in iPhone OS 4.
6. Steve Jobs has been quoted multiple times stating that “people don’t read anymore.”  He bashed the Kindle business model despite its runaway success.  Then what happened?  Apple launched the iPad, with the iBooks application and its tacky animations as one of the iPad’s touted features.

As you can clearly see, Apple has a track record of publicly denying the importance or plausibility of certain technologies despite their necessity and popularity, before incorporating them into their own products.  These are just a few examples.

Could the same thing happen with Flash?  Or is Apple going to maintain its foolhardy walled garden stance, and watch as Android passes them by?  It’s already happening (Android phones outsold the iPhone last quarter by a notable margin).

After months of development, member anaadoul has released the beta version of his Software Development Kit, which will allow users of resistive screens as found on just about any HTC device  to finally experience the interface-enhancing power of multi-touch functionality (every current HTC Windows Mobile device possesses a resistive screen, except for the HD2).
The SDK adds support for pinch-to-zoom, dual-finger dragging and swiping and gesture-based events. Adding support for these features may be completely revolutionary to how people use their Windows Phone: Windows Mobile does not natively support multi-touch but through this SDK, dual-finger navigation should be possible on any touchscreen device through its integration in an application.

Developers looking to find the SDK should look at the application thread, Anaadoul is also looking for developers who are willing to help him create a photo album that can showcase the dual-touch functionality made available by the new kit.

A video can be seen below.

Hey, we got linked to from Engadget!

Part 1: Google Earth with Google Sky

Part 2: Microsoft WorldWide Telescope

Part 3: Stellarium

Google Earth was the application to allow absolutely anyone to view high quality imagery of virtually any location on Earth. Since its debut in 2004, Google Earth has added feature upon feature, from GPS support to driving directions to Santa tracking, while maintaining its ease of use and refinement. One of the latest additions to Google Earth is an astronomical imagery tool dubbed Google Sky, also available through the web-based Google Maps service.

Like WorldWide Telescope, Google offers both an online version of Google, as well as a richer desktop experience as part of the Google Earth program for Windows, OS X, and Linux. Content is provided by the Hubble Telescope and other NASA sources, as well as numerous other astronomical image repositories.

Google Sky offers a level of visual information that comes close to matching WorldWide telescope, but lacks the easy to use and useful tours and extensive background information. However, it is important to note that Google Sky is an extension of Google Earth, which is one of the most popular applications across all operating systems and is at the top of its game. Microsoft offers similar Earth-based mapping functionality through Bing 3D Maps.

Unlike WorldWide Telescope, Google Map’s doesn’t offer the integrated tours and presentations by other people. However, you can glean additional detail about what you are observing through the addition or subtraction of layers, accessible from the main toolbar on the left side of the application (similar to adding and subtracting layers from Earth-based maps). Links to Wikipedia articles and YouTube vidoes about specific items are available directly from the application.  Google’s entry also offers the unique advantage of having a mobile component.  With the Google Sky application for Android, you can easily identify objects in the night sky on the go, with active positioning using your phone’s compass.

Google Earth with Google Sky is available as a free download from earth.google.com, and can also be accessed through a web-based interface at www.google.com/sky.

Part 1: Google Earth with Google Sky

Part 2: Microsoft WorldWide Telescope

Part 3: Stellarium

WorldWide Telescope, a free product from Microsoft Research, offers both a Silverlight based Web application for Windows, OS X, and Linux, as well as a richer desktop application for Windows only.  Content is provided by the Hubble Telescope and other NASA sources, as well as numerous other astronomical image repositories.  The application offers excellent guided tours by leading astronomers, a very polished interface, and easy ways to learn more about a given topic and save images.

The desktop version required Windows XP, Vista or 7, and it utilizes hardware video acceleration, so a midrange graphics card is required (most computers made the past three to four years should have no trouble). The installer takes less than three minutes, and you will be up and running quickly. Like Google Earth, the program utilized an Internet connection, and caches a modest amount of data locally. Unlike Google Earth, however, you aren’t kept waiting for imagery to load, and a completely offline mode is available. Panning around and zooming in is incredibly smooth with a mouse and keyboard; the program uses physics acceleration as you move around to make the experience extra smooth.

The default view of WorldWide Telescope is that of our solar system, with major sky features visible in the background. The user can zoom into a specific planet or set them in motion. Double-clicking on a certain region in the sky zooms into that destination.

As you move around the universe, the bottom bar of the application loads extra information about where you are. The top bar offers different views of the destination and the ability to bookmark or save that location.

The UI of the application borrows elements from Windows Media Player, with similar drop down buttons on the top tool bar. One of them is marked “Guided Tours,” and it offers a number of high quality tours by leading professors and astronomers. As the individual speaks in the background, WorldWide Telescope moves in and offers a detailed view about the speaker’s topic. It is an incredibly logical and entertaining way to learn more about a given subject in a few minutes, and cements WorldWide Telescope’s mission of a fun yet educational tool. The application also makes it easy to create your own tours and share them with the community.

Since its debut last year, Microsoft has continually updated WorldWide Telescope, the latest version having been released about three months ago. WorldWide Telescope is still dubbed a “Microsoft Research” project, so there is certainly more to come as this innovative and useful piece of software progresses through its lifecycle.

One recently added feature is integration with computerized telescopes, allowing you to connect your telescope to your PC and use the software to control what you see on your telescope. In the latest version, Microsoft has also added a 3D view of the universe, accessible with a 3D display and glasses, as well as Xbox 360 controller support, allowing you to connect your Xbox controller to your PC and use it to navigate around the application.

With WorldWide Telescope, Microsoft has produced an incredibly amazing and immersive look at the vast universe that we live in. If you are at all interested in learning more about the universe, be sure to download this program. It is available for free at www.worldwidetelescope.org.