Hey Mozilla! Stop Rolling Out Frequent Major Firefox Updates!

Is it just me, or every couple of months there’s a new major release of Firefox? Version 7 of the open source browser has just hitting the streets this week. For those of you keeping score, here’s the release schedule for all the major versions of Firefox:

• Firefox 6 was released on August 16, 2011
• Firefox 5 was released on June 21, 2011
• Firefox 4 was released on March 18, 2011
• Firefox 3 was released on June 17, 2008
• Firefox 2 was released on October 24, 2006
• Firefox 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004

So. after Firefox 4 hit the streets, it’s been a release every two or three months. This is insane. Developer are going to get run ragged testing their web apps with each new release of the browser. Not to mention that enterprises who may want to use Firefox would run into the same issue.

The problem is that it may get worse.

The word on the street is that updates may become even more frequent:

“Yes, I absolutely think in the future we will shorten the cycle – releases. “We have some work to do to make 6 weeks smooth from a process, tool, and product side. When we get 6 weeks down to a science we can shorten as needed.”

Lovely.

My advice to Mozilla. Stop the insanity. Releasing major Firefox updates weeks apart is insane. Slow down and allow users to actually adopt the browser and only release bug and security fixes when needed. That I think would help you to gain marketshre. After all, most users don’t see the benefit of shoving all these updates down their throats so frequently as they only surf the net with a browser and watch YouTube videos. You might want to keep that in mind.

RIM Stock Drops On Rumor About The Death Of The Playbook

RIM had a really rough day today. A rumor that they were going to exit the tablet market caused their stock to nosedive:

Shares in BlackBerry maker Research In Motion slumped Thursday, despite the firm’s denial of a report that it had halted production of its PlayBook tablet computer and cancelled additional tablet projects.

“Any suggestion that the BlackBerry PlayBook is being discontinued is pure fiction,” RIM spokesperson Marisa Conway told CBC News.

“RIM remains highly committed to the tablet market.”

RIM shares closed down 70 cents, or 3.1 per cent, at $21.97 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

I suspect that this is something that won’t go away anytime soon. After all, when the sales of your tablet underwhelm expectations, people are going to look for an exit strategy. The only way this is going to go away is for RIM to prove that their tablet can play with the iPad. Quite frankly, I don’t think it ever will and they might be better off trying to get their smart phone house in order.

GM Backs Down From Spying On OnStar Equipped Cars

I’m guessing that GM must have figured out that it was in a no win situation. I say that because GM announced that it will not be spying on OnStar equipped cars even if you don’t subscribe to OnStar:

GM said yesterday it will disable the data connection to vehicles once customers cancel the OnStar navigation, safety and security service. The Detroit-based automaker had said last week it would keep collecting information and may sell it under terms of service due to go into effect Dec. 1.

This is a win if you value your privacy. But as far as I am concerned, we should still ask questions about what GM does do with any data it collects from current customers. That to me is just as important as what it does with non-customers data.

Amazon Announces Kindle Fire Tablet… An iPad Killer?

Amazon today announced it’s Kindle Fire tablet. The Kindle Fire has a 7-inch display, a dual-core processor, WiFi, and it runs Android and Adobe Flash. It will have access to all of Amazon’s services including AmazonMP3, Amazon Prime, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Instant Video and the Amazon AppStore. The key thing is the price. It’s $199 US. But Amazon wasn’t done announcing stuff. They also kicked out the Kindle Touch which is equipped with an infrared layer on top of the E-Ink display to help avoid with any interference while reading. There’s also a feature called X-Ray which allows users to view where and when certain characters or places take place in a book. There’s also a 3G version as well and you can expect to pay $149 US for it. Don’t want WiFi? Then expect to pay $99 US. Finally, Amazon announced a new lower priced Kindle with no touch screen and it’s priced at $79.

The big news is the Kindle Fire. Is it an iPad killer? In a word, yes. Not because it’s technically advanced or has the coolest features. It’s because of the price. It’s $300 US cheaper than the cheapest iPad. HP when it had it’s fire sale of TouchPad tablet proved that people will buy a tablet not named iPad if you price it right. Amazon gets that, and I think that it may be enough to shake things up in the tablet wars.

Want one? You can pre-order now if you’re in the US.

Rogers Lights Up LTE In Toronto, Montreal And Vancouver…. And There’s More

I got some news today from Rogers. LTE is live in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Those cities join Ottawa in having LTE. That in itself would be big news. But there’s actually more news. From their posting on Redboard:

On October 18, we kick off what will be the widest selection of devices with a Rogers exclusive HTC Jetstream LTE tablet, the fastest tablet in Canada. This Android 3.1 tablet boasts LTE + Wi-Fi  connectivity, a 10” high resolution touchscreen, 32 GB capacity, and dual-core 1.5GHz processor. Add the HTC Scribe digital pen accessory and you can even sketch, highlight, take notes, or sign documents on your tablet. Rogers customers can reserve this tablet, the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE smartphone, or the LTE Rocketmobile hotspot (Sierra Wireless AirCard 754S) online today at www.rogers.com/lte.

And to borrow a quote from Steve Jobs, there’s one more thing:

To celebrate the expansion of Canada’s first LTE network, we’ve also introduced a special, limited time offer that provides LTE customers a chance to purchase one of Rogers largest ever data buckets – 10GB for $52.93 per month on a 3 year plan.

That might keep all but the heaviest surfers happy.

I’m hoping to get a LTE Rocket Stick shortly so that I can tell you what this network is like. When I do, expect to see a review here.

Carl Ichan Wants To Roll Up The RIM To Win

A tradition in Canada is to play Roll Up The Rim To Win at the local Tim Horton’s every March. Well, activist investor Carl Ichan wants to roll up to RIM to win. Rumors swirled today that Ichan is going to make a play for the smart phone maker:

Stoked by rumours that legendary activist Carl Icahn was circling the BlackBerry-maker, RIM’s stock had its strongest rally in weeks. More than $1.2-billion of RIM stock traded in New York and Toronto on Tuesday, boosting the company’s stock 3.63 per cent to close at $23.15 on the Toronto Stock Exchange – down from an 8-per-cent spike at midday.

At least something positive happened to the stock. Clearly investors like the Ichan might be getting involved. Clearly Balsillie and Lazaridis have to get their act together because if they don’t, they’ll get to see the sort of fight that Yahoo got a few years ago. Something that Yahoo couldn’t afford at the time, and something they have never fully recovered from. RIM better keep that in Mind.

Apple Expected To Unveil New iPhone On October 4th

The news has spread around the Internet that Apple is going to have some sort of media event on October 4th. This is expected to be the announcement of the new iPhone. Little is known about this iPhone, so your guess is as good as mine in terms of what its going to be. But if you come across that prototype that was lost not to long ago, maybe that would give us some clue.

See you next week!

Rogers Wants You To Help Them To Stop Competition And Choice…. Seriously!

A frequent reader tipped me off to this website that seems to be designed to encourage you to open the upcoming 700 MHz auction in Canada to everybody and not just newcomers. Now why would they do that you ask? Simple, if they as well as Telus and Bell are allowed to enter this auction, they’d likely win and in the process take away competition and choice from the Canadian consumer. Of course Rogers has a slightly different spin on this:

You’ve been looking forward to the arrival of LTE. You want the fastest network the world has ever seen…and you want it now.

But there are some who are trying to slow down Canadian digital innovation through misguided federal government regulation.

If you want to live fast, you need to act fast today to show your support for LTE and a faster, more productive Canada. The federal government will make a decision soon, and you have a critical role to play to make sure LTE can be deployed across Canada.

It’s a simple fact: you shouldn’t be denied access to groundbreaking LTE technology because of government policy. Help keep Canada moving forward by telling your local Member of Parliament not to slow you – or our digital economy – down.

Sorry, this is nothing but astroturfing by Rogers. Incumbents such as Rogers are precisely the reason why Canada has some of the highest prices for cell phone service on planet earth. Thus this auction is vital to create a competitive environment within the Canadian cell phone market. Face it. Rogers is freaking out because their days are potentially numbered as one of the “three kings” of the Canadian cell phone market, and they don’t want the good times at the expense of the Canadian consumer to end.

One thing I will note is that Rogers allows you to change the letter that they want Canadians to send to their MP. Thus, if you wanted to send a message to that would get some attention, you should change it to send your MP a message to keep Rogers and the other incumbents out of this auction. But that would be a nasty thing to do.

Got A GM Car With OnStar? It Might Be Spying On You….

I was flipping through the Saturday paper and I came across this story that made me uncomfortable. Apparently if you have a GM car with OnStar, it might be spying on you even if you don’t subscribe to OnStar:

OnStar, known for connecting drivers to live operators who can provide directions or summon emergency help after an accident, starting in December plans to collect data from people who discontinue the service unless they specifically ask for the connection to be severed.

Among the details that would still be collected are speed, location and other data from global positioning system satellites, raising potential concerns from privacy advocates.

It gets even worse:

The data collected may be shared with or sold to third parties for any purpose after identifying tags are removed, the OnStar policy states. Such uses might include research into public safety or traffic services, according to the policy.

Sorry, that’s a #fail in my books. The folks at OnStar had something to say about that:

“We have never sold any personally identifiable information to any third party,” Joanne Finnorn, vice president for subscriber services at OnStar, said in a statement.

Sorry, that’s a #fail too. The fact that you haven’t sold personally identifiable info really doesn’t make me feel any better about this. The fact is that unless I opt out, you could be collecting all sorts of info that I perhaps don’t want in the hands of a third party. Even before this popped up on my radar screen, I personally have had zero interest in paying for OnStar if I owned a GM vehicle. Quite honestly, I didn’t see the value in it to justify the price they want me to pay to have it. The thought that they may be collecting data even after I stop subscribing to the service (as all GM vehicles come with some sort of free trial period) really does nothing to make me want to buy a GM vehicle. It also makes me want to rethink the positive review I gave the Chevy Cruze.

I’ll say this to GM. If you want consumers to trust you, then you need to do a better job of protecting personal information. What’s described in this article doesn’t come close to doing so. Until you start do so, you’re not on my car buying list, not to mention the lists of others out there.

Review: Sennheiser MM 30i Headset

Besides being a smart phone, my Blackberry gets used as a music player. That’s an important feature for me as I travel a fair bit doing work for clients. The headset that came with my Blackberry was shall we say, less than impressive. So I went into my local big box store and walked out with the Sennheiser MM 30i headset. Now I will say right up front that this is designed for the iPhone. However it did partially work with my Blackberry. The volume controls didn’t work, but the center button that allows you to use the voice dialing function did. That was fine with me.

Now this headset is of the noise cancelling variety and it works quite well. They’re also in ear headsets that come with different sizes of rubber ear inserts so that you can find your perfect fit. The sound quality is great. From crisp highs to brain-rattling lows, they deliver the goods. If I have to make a call, callers can hear me clearly using the built in microphone. If they do fall down in one area, it’s the fact that there’s no carrying case for them. Sorry, that’s a bit lame.

Other than the lack of a carrying case, I like this headset and I recommend it to anyone who wants quality sound on the go. Remember they’re intended for iDevices but they may work with other smart phones. Your mileage will vary.