Another Reason You Don't Need To Be Worried About Apple's Download Only Lion OS (AAPL)

If you have concerns about Lion being download-only, you shouldn't.

Apple has designed a system called "Internet Recovery" that will download and install OS X Lion even if your hard drive fails or somehow gets wiped. From Apple's site:

[Internet Recovery] downloads and starts Lion Recovery directly from Apple servers over a broadband Internet connection. And your Mac has access to the same Lion Recovery features online. Internet Recovery is built into every newly-released Mac starting with the Mac Mini and MacBook Air.

If you're absolutely paranoid and want a hard copy of Lion, Apple will sell it to you on a USB drive for $70.

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See Also:

• HOW TO: Download OS X Lion From The Mac App Store
• Apple's OS X Lion Has Already Arrived At Apple Stores
• Apple Will Sell Mac OS X Lion On A USB Drive Next Month For $69

Another Reason You Don't Need To Be Worried About Apple's Download Only Lion OS (AAPL)

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Here's One Reason To Hate Amazon's Android App Store (AMZN, GOOG)

Here's a great example of how user experience is more important choice.

On the iPhone, you can only buy apps from one app store -- Apple's.

But a selection of Android marketplaces are popping up to fill holes in Google's own Android Marketplace.

For instance Amazon's Appstore for Android offers a curated selection of apps that Amazon has confirmed will work well. It also has better search than Google's Android Marketplace and lower prices on some apps -- Amazon even gives some paid apps away for free. Those are good reasons to check it out.

But once you've got the Amazon App Store on your phone, you have to keep it there forever. If you don't, then apps you've downloaded through it might stop working.

A mobile developer pointed this out to us this morning. He stumbled across the problem because he noticed that the Amazon App Store was running some sort of process in the background all the time on his phone, eating up resources. He couldn't even get it to shut down manually. So he got rid of it completely.

Suddenly, all the apps he'd downloaded through it -- including Angry Birds -- stopped working. Instead, he now gets this error message:

We confirmed the behavior on the Nexus S we keep around the office.

This developer suspects that Amazon is collecting usage data through the Appstore app -- that's how it can afford to subsidize apps.

Another more mundane possibility is that the app has to send some kind of signal back to Amazon to prove it's not pirated, and does this through the Appstore app.

Whatever the reason, it's annoying. And not good for the Android platform overall.

Once Amazon makes its own Android tablets, this bug probably won't matter -- you probably won't be able to uninstall the Amazon Appstore from them. In fact, it may be the only approved way to get apps. Just like Apple.

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See Also:

• THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: Android Gets Huge Opportunity In Absence Of New iPhone Launch This Summer
• Microsoft Windows Phones Are Getting Buried At Carriers' Stores
• THE APPLE INVESTOR: iPhone Expected To Lose Smartphone Market Share Over Next 4 Years, To Microsoft!

Here's One Reason To Hate Amazon's Android App Store (AMZN, GOOG)

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Here's The Real Reason Apple Is Suing Samsung (AAPL, GOOG)

Apple is suing Samsung for allegedly ripping off the look and feel of its iPhone and iPad.

Here's the problem: it's not clear that anyone has ever won a "look and feel" lawsuit. (The legal term is "trade dress.")

Nor should they. Fast-following and imitating is a big part of what makes free markets work. It helps competition and helps bring innovations to consumers faster.

What's more, Samsung, a huge conglomerate that makes all sorts of electronics products, is an important supplier to Apple.

So what's the deal?

It's the same reason why Microsoft is suing makers of Android phones: to give Android a price.

Android is free. In some cases, it's even cheaper than free, with Google sharing some revenue from Google searches on Android phones with partners. This is hugely disruptive to both Microsoft and Apple's business models; Microsoft because they make money on software licenses, and Apple on hardware. And this disruptive approach is winning: Android is surging past iOS in marketshare.

A lawsuit from a big company, even if doomed, still takes a lot of time, energy and money to fight off. So a Samsung or someone else might settle, accepting to pay some form of license. If that happens, Apple can go around the other manufacturers asking for the same license and have a much stronger claim. And now OEMs have to factor that cost into the decision to choose Android. And all of a sudden, Android has a price.

Don't Miss: Apple Fans React To News That Android Has Blown Past iPhone In Marketshare →

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See Also:

• Why Is Apple's Stock Negative For The Year? -- The SAIcast Discuss
• Apple Says Samsung Ripped Off The iPhone And iPad
• 15 Awesome Things We Learned From The 1985 Steve Jobs Playboy Interview

Here's The Real Reason Apple Is Suing Samsung (AAPL, GOOG)

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CHART OF THE DAY: The Real Reason AT&T; Is Buying T-Mobile

AT&T has several good reasons to spend $39 billion to acquire T-Mobile. But the most important reason that AT&T needs more wireless spectrum -- the airwaves used to operate mobile services -- and T-Mobile has it.

Think your wireless service is bad now? Imagine how congested the network is going to be in a few years when there are even more smartphones in use, PLUS tens of millions of new devices sold each year that get connected to the cell network. These include tablets, netbooks, laptops, and more.

Click here for more charts from the investor presentation AT&T gave today to explain why it's buying T-Mobile →

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See Also:

• MAP OF THE DAY: Here's Why AT&T-Mobile Might Actually Be Good For Consumers
• CHARTS: AT&T Explains Its $39 Billion T-Mobile Deal
• AT&T Buying T-Mobile USA In $39 Billion Deal

CHART OF THE DAY: The Real Reason AT&T; Is Buying T-Mobile

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