I got this article in an email from the Redmond report. Check it out!

Redmond Report
By: Doug Barney
Editor in Chief, Redmond magazine

Microsoft To Blow Up Android?

“Microsoft makes no secret of the fact that it hates Android. It considers it an inferior OS for tablets and phones — and is trying to build superior tablets and phones to prove it.

That’s not Redmond’s only approach. Microsoft also has patents that it claims Android violates, and is trying to get Android device makers such as Barnes & Noble to pony up.

In a market as competitive as tablets, margins are everything, and big licensing fees could kill a product faster than Josey Wales, who killed 55 men in a single movie (without the convenience of automatic weapons).

Microsoft won a judgment against the book chain, but the judge was clearly conflicted.

Judge Ted Essex ruled by the law — a law that allows the patent holder to charge basically whatever it wants and use patents to swap pesky competitors.

This really is starting to get out of hand. Companies are buying companies just for the patents.

I’m no expert in patent law, but it seems we may need a bit of reform here. Otherwise those with deep markets will keep out the upstarts.”

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Gotta admit, pretty effective advertisement! This is why I say competition is good! So prices will keep dropping!

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The 2nd Anniversary of the iPad. Sony Vita: Will it be hackable? A nice GameCube hardware hack, a guy shrinks it down to a hand held version! Check out the YouTube video of the device. Check out the Ben Heck Show. An Open Source Tablet!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:27 — 6.9MB) | Embed

The 2nd Anniversary of the iPad. Sony Vita: Will it be hackable? A nice GameCube hardware hack, a guy shrinks it down to a hand held version! Check out the YouTube video of the device. Check out the Ben Heck Show. An Open Source Tablet!

Download M4V

Download WebM

Download MP3

Awesome! An Open Source tablet! This rocks! Want!

Meet the Spark, an open-source tablet that will cost $260 and run Linux

“As an alternative to the many Android tablets already on sale, the Spark is a 7-inch Linux-based slate that’s entirely open and built around open-source software.

Are you ready for yet another tablet release? Well, this time it’s a little bit different to the slew of Android slates we’ve become used to, as it runs an open source Linux operating system, making it perfect for developers and users who don’t want to deal with any proprietary software at all.

Announced by leading KDE hacker Aaron Seigo on his blog, it’s called the Spark, and it uses the community-driven spin-off of MeeGo called Mer as its OS, with KDE’s cool Plasma Active user interface over the top.

So why would you choose this over an Android device or the Kindle Fire? It’s obviously not for everyone, but if you want an open device loaded with free software, that’s yours to do whatever you like with, then it’s likely to be exactly what you’re after. The Spark’s bootloader isn’t locked, so you’re free to install any alternative operating system and any apps too.

The specification isn’t the highest you’ll see though, with the tablet boasting a 7-inch screen, a 1Ghz ARM processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory and a Mali-400 GPU. It’s speculated that the Spark is a rebranded Zenithink slate, which if true would mean the screen resolution is a mere 800 x 400.

But as it’s set to retail for 200 euros, which converts to about $260, it’s a bargain for anyone who want to run Linux natively rather than just another build of Android. There will even be an application store with apps and eBooks, plus as Seigo himself points out, individual stores can be built for it, making it potentially useful for educational and business environments.”