Weekend Open Forum: What's your preferred mobile phone platform and handset?

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n the past three years we've seen a number of new smartphone operating systems burst onto the scene. From Apple's wildly successful iPhone OS, to Google's increasingly popular Android and Palm's praised yet still floundering WebOS -- to name a few. Microsoft is no stranger to the market either, but just recently the company took a radical departure from its previous business-centered strategy and unveiled what looks to be a potentially solid contender in the consumer space: the Windows Phone 7 Series.

All of them are characterized for powering a new generation of touch-driven, fast and feature-rich devices that evermore seem to be turning into pocket-sized computers. The fact that three of the most significant companies in desktop computing -- Apple, Google and Microsoft -- now stand to occupy the same positions in mobile is a clear indication of where the industry is going.

Others like Nokia and RIM have arguably been a bit slower to adapt to the latest trends -- or have preferred to focus their efforts on a particular niche -- but still command an undeniable large portion of the cell phone market. Like them there are also a number of big-name industry players peddling their own platforms and hardware, including Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Toshiba, HTC and LG Electronics.

In this edition of our Weekend Open Forum we want to know what kind of device you are currently using. Have you jumped into the smartphone and mobile app craze? Are you more of the business user type? Or perhaps you are comfortable with anything that can make a simple phone call? Feel free to share what you love or hate about your current hardware and mobile platform, as well as any plans for your next purchase.

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Ubisoft's new DRM more annoying than expected

Y
ou may recall Ubisoft's recent decision to axe StarForce DRM in favor of a new online platform. The company's online services platform sounded similar to Steam, letting users play from multiple machines without discs -- but it wasn't perfect. The platform required a permanent Internet connection. Needless to say, gamers weren't happy.

Despite disapproval, Ubisoft is pressing on with the technology. CVG has received Assassin's Creed II and Settlers VII for review, and both are laced with the new mechanism. Granted, being forced to have your machine online is annoying, but the flaws run a bit deeper.

CVG says that if you're disconnected while playing, you're kicked from the game and all progress from the last checkpoint or save is lost. Naturally, this occurs whether your cat unplugs your router, your ISP has issues, or if Ubisoft's servers crash.

Piracy may not be the driving force behind Ubisoft's new platform, but the company has said any initiative that decreases illegal downloads will allow it to pour more cash into the creation and expansion of intellectual properties.

What about the resources wasted in an attempt to prevent the inevitable? We all know that Assassin's Creed II and other popular titles will hit torrent sites around the same time as retail shelves. Resistance is futile.

Shouldn't companies focus more on rewarding paying customers rather than punishing them for the deeds of a few bad apples?

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