Razr I review, iOS Maps in China, Skyhook sues Google, the Last Laptop and more

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This article titled “Boot up: iOS Maps in China, Razr I review, Skyhook sues Google, the Last Laptop and more” was written by Charles Arthur, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 26th September 2012 05.30 UTC

A quick burst of 8 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team

Sunsetting @Anywhere >> Twitter developers blog

We’ve been growing the family of products that makes up Twitter for Websites, including, for example, yesterday’s launch of the ability to embed timelines on a website. As Twitter for Websites has evolved, it has improved upon many of the features we introduced with @Anywhere: Tweet box, follow, linkify a @username, sign-in, and the hovercard. As a result, we are sunsetting @Anywhere and focusing on continuing to build out Twitter for Websites.

Let’s begin running the ruler over this to see how exactly it shows that Twitter is becoming Evil.

iOS Maps and China >> Anthony Drendel

Google Maps was always pretty terrible here. In the big cities and tourist centers, it was passable. Once you left China’s large metropolises, however, you were pretty much on your own. You could usually see expressways, highways, and even a lot of smaller roads, but there were very, very few shops, restaurants, banks, ATMs, etc. listed. That has changed with iOS 6. Apple has chosen AutoNavi to provide map services within China. That was a smart move, because AutoNavi is a local Chinese company that provides very detailed maps of China. Google was never going to be able to map China as well as it has other parts of the globe because the Chinese government doesn’t trust the motives of foreign companies–and it especially doesn’t trust Google.

iPhone 5 Impact: Sales Estimates by Region – Americas, Europe, Japan & APAC >> Tech-Thoughts

China is in effect being held back from sales by a quarter because of the way that it celebrates Chinese New Year in the first quarter of the year.

Apple seeks higher payout from Samsung >> FT.com

Apple has raised the stakes in its patent battle with arch rival Samsung by pressing for another m in damages following a court ruling in a US patent infringement suit last month.

That’s in addition to the bn in damages it was awarded. (Requires subscription.)

The Last PC laptop >> Coding Horror

Jeff Atwood finally found his dream laptop. But:

My laptop is increasingly a device I only take when I know I’ll need to do a lot of typing, and/or I’ll need a lot of screen space to work. But even a phone could do that if it had decent support for bluetooth keyboards and external displays, couldn’t it? And even a few programmers, the audience who would most need all the power and flexibility of laptops, are switching to tablets.

Motorola Razr I review >> V3.co.uk

A solid smartphone with crisp display, great battery life and speedy processor, let down only by occasional software glitches and a lack of built in internal storage.

Pros: Decent performance, good battery life, solid design, operating system tweaks are positive

Cons: Occasional software glitches cause stutter when navigating between screens, camera not as good as some competitors, relatively miserly built-in storage

SIM-free price:

Skyhook Wireless files new lawsuit against Google over 9 US geolocation patents >> FOSS Patents

From last Friday:

A few years ago, Skyhook had agreements in place with Samsung and Motorola until Google used the kind of bullying tactics that China’s Alibaba also complained about last week, in response to which it brought a competition lawsuit under Massachusetts state law and a federal patent infringement action in the District of Massachusetts in late 2010. In the competition case, 418 pages of discovery material drew a lot of media attention to Google’s overall attitude toward the freedom of Android device makers and the openness of the platform. Yesterday Skyhook filed a new patent lawsuit against Google, alleging infringement of nine geolocation-related patents by Android and Google Maps.

Twist >> App Store

Twist is the easiest way to let your family, friends and colleagues know when you will arrive.

Twist also alerts them when you are almost there and if you are running late. Whether you are driving, walking or taking public transit, Twist accurately calculates your arrival time to a specified destination and privately shares your ETA with only those that you choose.

Untried, but yet another in the suddenly sprouting garden of iOS6 travel apps.

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