Google Announces the Nexus 7"

[Dulin's Books]

hmm good point

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by HarryT

it must have the capability of reading the dreaded FAT file system.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the Linux kernel already do that out of the box? Maybe it's just me but I haven't used a single Linux distro that didn't support FAT.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Ankh

No. I am asking for a choice NOT to pay for FAT, if I don't need it.
It is an extension of very old fight to buy a PC without @#$&# Windows installed on it.

In the recent past I walked into a Starbuck I notice the price off a cup of coffee had gone up. When I asked why the price went up if coffee beans price ad gone down the cashier responded that the price of milk had gone up. I responded, but I drink my coffee black, she just shrugged and said most people drink coffee with cream.

She's right and so are the folks arguing here that FAT is mostly used. I've been using Linux exclusively since '96 and can appreciate when Linux finally added FAT support to their kernel.

I'm not following your argument most lawsuits against Android devices are for patent infringement not copyright, the only copyright case s against Oracle.

Future more the patents in question are not disclosed to the public. Even if Google would address hem they could not most of MS lawsuits are resolved behind closed doors.

Many believe they are frivolous. Any coincidence that the only person who chose to fight ms is now a partner?

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by Ankh

...attempting to shape the computing world of tomorrow... not cleaning that Android mess is creating (yet another) proprietary jail... dirty their hands in the process... their own bully...

When I see comments like this, I realize how out of touch some people are getting. Thanks, but I want my sdhc card (fat32) and movies (mpeg4) and music (mp3).

[GreenMonkey]

For those arguing about Microsoft license fees for FAT, I was pretty sure the amount was minute (not nearly as much as DVD playback license fees, for example).

Here's what I found on wikipedia:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia - FAT

On December 3, 2003 Microsoft announced it would be offering licenses for use of its FAT specification and "associated intellectual property", at the cost of a US$0.25 royalty per unit sold, with a $250,000 maximum royalty per license agreement.

A quarter. I'm sure Google already has a license/royalty for FAT support. This is probably why Linux distros support it...it's cheap.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

isnt that what they did here? they kept android clean without the need for the SD spec. Its not the solution YOU want but its the solution they chose. they are not obligated to choose your way.

Ah, that's a source of misunderstanding... Nexus 7 is "Google product", and they are free to do whatever they please. There are Android tablets with SD slots for me to chose instead of Nexus.

BUT, Android is offered as a software PLATFORM to other corporate entities. And if Google is in business of NOT killing their own ecosystem (like Microsoft did and no amount of "developers, developers" yelling helped them then), then Google has to clean up the infrastructure and prevent lawsuits not only against themselves, but their partners, too.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the Linux kernel already do that out of the box? Maybe it's just me but I haven't used a single Linux distro that didn't support FAT.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_v._TomTom

[ScotiaBurrell]

Unfortunately mounting USB storage natively is not supported on the Nexus 7. Hopefully rooted users will be able to use StickMount with the Nexus 7 and make this work.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6061/m...-not-supported

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by ScotiaBurrell

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6061/m...-not-supported

Oh well, it would've been something that's nice to have but for the Nexus 7, it's not really a deal breaker for me. I wasn't expecting to be able to expand storage when I pre-ordered. Although, no doubt rooting would allow it eventually.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ScotiaBurrell

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6061/m...-not-supported

Well, that changes the ballgame. Definitely not a good thing.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Although, no doubt rooting would allow it eventually.

I'm tired of rooting devices.

[Dulin's Books]

interesting comment over there

Another reason to not allow mass storage on these devices is that the unified partition is formatted as ext4, which Windows won't recognize without a driver. Instead Windows will claim that the drive isn't formatted and offer to format it for you.

I applaud the use of ext4. FAT32 doesn't support files larger than 4GB which can pose a problem for some videos that you might want to watch on the upcoming HD tablets. It's also a problem for making nandroid backups if you're using a custom recovery.

[Dulin's Books]

im still looking forward to hearing the USB OTG will support a camera. it would make a nice travel microscope for the kids as well as being able to make use of it during video chats and for AR stuff

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

interesting comment over there

"... FAT32 doesn't support files larger than 4GB..."

Fat32 supports disk sizes up to 32gb, not 4gb.

[Dulin's Books]

he said file sizes not disk size

The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GB minus 1 byte or 4,294,967,295 (232−1) bytes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table