40Tech

As some of you have no doubt heard, Apple has recently applied for a patent entitled: Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device. This technology is, ostensibly, supposed to give Apple the power to help you protect yourself in the event someone else has gotten a hold of your iPhone. It also gives Apple the power to remotely wipe your iPhone if you have Jailbroken your device — the legality of Jailbreaking notwithstanding.

Just that last detail is enough to get many people up in arms, but it is the method in which Apple wants to implement its new Big Brother feature that has people truly freaked out. After taking a bit of time to think about it and consider the implications, I have decided that I am one of those people.

As a marketing professional, I understand the importance of protecting brand identity. I get that it means dollars, and that any infringement upon or blanding of a company’s identity can, in the long run, have a negative effect on that company’s bottom line. I understand that a company as culturally dominating as Facebook has to worry about their brand becoming so “household” that their trademark can become non-enforceable (“google” anything lately?) — but does that give them the right to demand that an upcoming social network for teachers remove the word “book” from its name? You tell us.

I received my Droid X this week, which I think everyone can agree is somewhere near, if not the top, of mobile technological achievement (I’m willing to share the spot with the iPhone 4, but it’s worth pointing out that mine makes calls with or without a case). The device is truly a testament to what humanity has been able to achieve. Holding this marvel of modern technology makes me wonder – what happened to low-tech? So the question I pose to you, good readers, is what low-tech device or strategy do you use that has proven better than the high-tech option, and why is it better?

“Open” is the new buzzword du jour, with a few of the major tech companies claiming to support open standards. Two of those companies are Google and Apple. As Wikipedia notes, there is no single definition of an “open standard,” and interpretations vary with usage. Even the companies themselves seem to have differing definitions of open, depending on the setting. Let’s take a quick look at Apple and Google, and at how “open” they are.

Being a tech geek brings its own challenges. One challenge that we face is how to balance our many geek interests with our real world commitments. And one of the most important parts of the real world that we need to manage is our marriage or relationship with our spouse or significant other.

We’ve previously asked for your input on product reviews here at 40Tech.  Now, we have a similar question.  Specifically, when a blog publishes a sponsored post, does that affect how you view that blog?  By "sponsored post," I mean a post similar to what Mashable and Lifehacker sometimes run, where the post is a paid [...]

We have one question for you right off the bat- how many of you are still using Google Wave or Google Buzz?  Have both services flopped?  Back in August, we wrote about 3 reasons why Wave wouldn’t flop.  Has it?  What about Buzz? My personal take on Buzz and Wave is that  Buzz is a [...]

With the multitude of social media platforms out there (some big, some huge, some alternative), and the advent and subsequent takeover of social sharing, it is a pretty good bet that anyone of you reading this article has subscribed to or tried out a few of them (Facebook, at the very least). But how truly [...]

If you’re a book author, keep your eyes open.  Under the Google Book Search settlement agreement, you may have to take action or cede rights to Google to use your work.  The Google Book Search settlement agreement is a proposed deal between the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, and Google.  The deal arose [...]

Most everyone has a routine for their favourite technology these days (unless you’re Amish, or Luddite, I suppose). In fact, you’ve probably had a routine for tech most of your life: Saturday morning cartoons as a kid, pulling out the calculator a few times a week for math homework, that ever-necessary first cup of coffee [...]