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Breakfast Links: Transformers Trailer, Falconry & Fancy Phones

Wow, the official Transformers trailer is now out. I must admit that it does look pretty awesome. I really like how the transformers move and how they transform - when one of the planes transforms as it’s landing and skids down on the ground - that’s some good stuff. I still don’t love how fidgety all of them appear, there’s like barely any flat surface on them, they’re all wires and shards and what nots. But I’ll be checkin it out, belie’ dat.

And you may have thought falconing was dead and consigned to demonstrations at your local Renaissance Faire. You would be wrong, it is apparently very alive and kicking. Take Tactical Avian Predators (how awesome is that name?) they and their birds are for hire, so if you’ve got flying pest problems you can now have a troop of owls and peregrines taking them down. How great is that? In their spare time they also teach falconry (who’s ranks are now on the rise) as well as give demonstrations (presumably at your local Renaissance Faire). Here’s their hard sell:

Pigeons, starlings, sparrows and other non-native species flee in sheer terror at the sight of a patrolling falcon.

Flee in sheer terror! Bad ass.

UPDATE: Thanks to ben for pointing out the debunking of the dual banded iPhone myth - my faith is restored.

And lastly, I think it is hard to deny the beneficial impact that the iPhone is having on the phone industry. Phones all over the place are genuinely improving, take the Helio for example. Now check out the MiniOne by Meizu. This thing is very iPhone like in physical appearance, and it sports a 720×480 touch screen! That is ridiculous, the iPhone’s by comparison is a mere 320×480. At 720, you don’t even need the fancy zooming interface because most sites are optimized for a screen only marginally bigger! It’s also got a bigger hard drive and is way cheaper. It sports WinMob 6, and is very tempting despite all that. Especially when you consider that Apple’s FCC approval for the iPhone reveals that despite it’s GSM’ness, it is only dual band and will not be usable pretty much anywhere outside the US. I am much less excited by the iPhone these days. For realz.