I'd rather just wait for HTML5 WebSockets. I've done a few demos on Google Chrome using node.js, and it's very fast, efficient, and simple to use. Much more practical than "long-polling", since it is a truly persistent bi-directional connection with the server.
Any attempt to do this with HTTP is just hacking the protocol to do something it was never intended to do.
As someone who has owned both an iPhone and an Android phone, I have to say the iPhone is better (in terms of UI and hardware). In terms of software obviously having an open platform is way better.
Though I'd prefer this thread not turn into a giant iPhone vs. Android flame-war. Maybe we need a Nokia fan-boy somewhere to even the playing field.
No Push Notifications = Fail
Basically just a front-end for the web interface. Not worth the money.
I am willing to bet that eventually they'll start loosing more money than they are now. They are probably making a decent amount of money on advertising right now, and they will probably end up making less on paid subscriptions than they currently do on advertising. Will they eventually reverse course in 6months to a year?
I guess we'll see... but for the majority of the internet, this means the death of murdoch's online news dominance. Good Riddance.
Work expands to fill the time available. -- Cyril Northcote Parkinson, "The Economist", 1955