Herbivore2

I dislike Chrome. Haven't used it in years. It is a system resource and bandwidth hog. 

I actually liked iCab enough to pay for the browser. It is a very nice app and far nicer than Chrome with better speed and customizability. 

I have Chrome where I work, but use it only as a last resort as my machine bogs down substantially. As soon as I am finished with the browser, I close it immediately. If I happen to forget, I am usually forced to use the Windows task manager to kill the process. 

I could care less about syncing the bookmarks, etc. If I need them, I will just VPN to my home machine from my iPhone and access safari directly. 

Staying off of Chrome has another huge advantage. Google is unable to profile my browsing habits. 

gatorguy said:

SpamSandwich said:

How is this data collected? From Android phones? From people using Google Now? I'm sensing Sen. Al Franken calling for an investigation.

Yeah that must be it. Android. Apps can't know where you are, nor can maps. Who agrees to location sharing?
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203033

Both Apple and Google use and collect location data. That's NOT the issue here. 

Google's information collection identifies the individual device with the intent to sell that data to advertisers. Apple does not attempt to identify the individual user in the same fashion. They are able to, but Apple does not sell my profile to others looking to profit off of me. 

I really don't care how useful Google makes their software or devices, I won't use them. 

Convenience is nice, but security is far more important. It is exactly why my home automation system is not connected online. It is secure the way it is. It would be convenient to control things online, but it would an invitation for a hacker to break into my system. I don't care if the lights get turned on. But I would be quite upset to find that someone cranked the thermostat up to the highest setting putting my home at risk of a fire. Or unlocking the doors. The convenience is simply not worth the security risk. 

I will forego the convenience of anything Google offers. Not worth it. Not by a long shot. They already have too much of a profile on me. But for the past three years, they have nothing and it's going to stay that way. 

How about a cellular baseband radio in one of those links?

I would get rid of the phone for the watch all together. 

muadibe said:

Curious whether this will have any impact on their bid to buy NXP.

It very likely will. The government regulators will put the proposed transaction under far greater scrutiny. 

This also changes the Android landscape considerably. Small cellphone manufacturers could always buy Snapdragon CPUs and be assured that they are getting among the highest performance Android machines. 

Qualcomm's SOC development is about to be crippled. 

The large manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei and LG will produce their own high performance SOCs. The smaller firms won't be able to and forced to purchase lower performance CPUs from Mediatek or QCOM. 

It will allow the large OEMs to move off of Android. Samsung has Tizen and LG has WebOS. And if they are willing to put Alexa on these platforms, Android will go into obsolescence. 

gmgravytrain said:

bdkennedy said:

When Apple sues someone, it's a big deal. Bye Qualcomm.

Qualcomm isn't going anywhere. It's a Wall Street favorite. Big investors will stick by the company and I wouldn't be surprised if the share price surges in response. It's more likely negative press will finger Apple for being in a lawsuit and cause Apple's share price to fall. It seems no matter what Apple gets into there will be the news media always saying Apple will suffer 

Check the stock ticker. QCOM is down over 10% while Apple has been stable. 

Apple and Samsung make up over 40% of QCOM's revenue. The Korean and US lawsuits stand to change QCOM's revenue model substantially. 

Apple is fine. And if they've committed to Intel, it means that Intel has other more substantial advantages. And with Apple driving development in conjunction with Intel, Intel's modems will soon be outperforming QCOM ones. Apple is always willing to purchase the best components. They may be tough negotiators, but they are willing to purchase the highest performing components. 

If they went to an inferior modem from Intel, it means that Intel very likely has other very compelling technologies that Apple wants preferred access to. 

Intel is making a move to 10 nm soon and quite serious about it. It makes me wonder if Apple is planning on producing the A10X on Intel fabs. The iPad sells at much lower volume than the iPhone and may provide the best opportunity for Intel winning back Apple's business. Pure speculation on my part, but the delay in new iPad models seems to coincide with Intel's move to 10 nm. 

QCOM should have just stuck with modems. They would be far better off. Their licensing model is about to be squashed.