"Bare" Android is no longer trendy. We have choices now: Tizen (from the Linux Foundation,) Firefox OS (I guess you know where it is coming from) and Ubuntu OS. Below you can see videos of Firefox OS and Tizen. After playing with more than 20 different devices, I wasn't able to unlock the Ubuntu OS device. There goes great usability.
Tag: linux
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MWC 2014: More Variety is Better – Firefox OS, Tizen and Ubuntu
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Skype Working Out Instant Messaging Bug
Skype has long set the standard for both video conferencing and VoIP communications, as their products were one of the first to cross operating systems, and is now the VoIP option integrated with social networking giant Facebook. But many consumers have run into issues in recent weeks, as instant messages sent over Skype have been accidentally sent to the incorrect contact, creating a host of awkward situations. Luckily, Skype is moving quickly to address the problem, so their millions of customers can rest easy that things should soon go back to normal.Skype first became aware of the glitch on a user forum. The misdirected IM’s became an issue any time Skype crashed in the midst of an instant message session. The last IM sent would accidentally go to a different contact once the user logged back into his account. Although Skype was incredibly apologetic about the bug, they announced they didn’t feel it has affected a large number of users, and shouldn’t dissuade anyone from trusting their VoIP needs to the service.
VoIP-List.com: extensive catalog of voip providers, available software and hardware resources.
Not only is the situation rather unique, but it also only impacted particular iterations of Skype. The versions in question seem to be Skype 5.8 for Mac, Skype 4.0 for Linux, Skype 5.10 for Windows, and Skype 1.2 running on Windows mobile devices. Customers were asked to upgrade to the latest version, which should solve the issue. Skype also took the opportunity to fix the File Sending option on their desktop software, so that users with a FAT32 hard drive can now save files consistently.
Skype has risen swiftly in the VoIP world, further buffered by their purchase by Microsoft last year. Skype will come built-in on Microsoft’s newest Windows release, Windows 8, and will integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Office 2013 when it heads to market next year.
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First Else Unveiled – Is The Revolution Coming?
Previewed in October at ACCESS Day in Japan, the First Else, the first mobile device deploying the ELSE INTUITION platform, was unveiled yesterday in London. ELSE INTUITION is a new and, as the companies claim “groundbreaking” mobile platform jointly developed by ACCESS, Tokyo-based provider of software technologies to the mobile and beyond-PC markets, and Emblaze Mobile – Israeli technology design house for mobile devices.
ELSE INTUITION combines ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0, ACCESS’ flagship mobile Linux platform, with innovative user interface and a suite of services provided by Emblaze.
Thanks to the combination of ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0 and an advanced user interface engine, the platform delivers “a highly compelling and differentiated user experience, coupled with state-of-the-art hardware, accelerated 2D/3D graphics and elegant transition effects,” as the companies say.
They also assure that all data and content, including contacts, appointments, videos and photos can be rendered anywhere, not just within a single dedicated application. That gives users “faster, easier and more consistent access to their information.”
Coming in Q2 next year, the First Else is a first device that deploys the new platform.
The companies say “the device actually becomes the application”, which means that First Else would focus on applications rather than standard mobile phone functions, according to Amir Kupervas’, CEO of Emblaze explanation. The device provides functionality that for the first time is able to match that of standalone off-the-shelf dedicated devices, such as digital cameras, top-ranked MP3 players, best-in-class GPS devices, and more, “while maintaining an exceptional ease and simplicity of use.”
First Else comes with TI OMAP 3430 processor, 3.5" FWVGA 480×854 capacitive touch screen, microSD slot that will allow for a 32GB storage capacity, 5 MP camera with auto-focus and advanced stabilization technology, Bluetooth, HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, standalone GPS and A-GPS, tilt, proximity and light sensors with adaptive handling and 1450mA battery.
"Our vision is to create a revolutionary mobile solution that will change users’ experience in the mobile arena. Imagine a device that is not a phone surrounded by gimmicks you will not use; where the camera literally replaces your digital camera; you get real-time push email wherever you are on the globe; almost every song and film in the world is one click away; and any one of its multitude of features is reached with no more than one light gesture of your finger and not buried deep inside folders within folders. If you imagine this, you imagine the first ELSE and the capabilities created with ELSE INTUITION. And yes – it is definitely something ELSE," Kupervas said.
According to Tomihisa Kamada, president of ACCESS, Emblaze came to them with a “thought-provoking” concept to “shake up” the mobile industry. “I am delighted that ACCESS has been able to provide the software to make it happen," he said. The ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0 is compliant with LiMo Foundation specifications and employs ACCESS’ NetFront Browser. The company says its Advanced UI Engine enables development of state-of-the-art user interfaces with advanced graphical effects, and allows complete modification of applications’ "look and feel" without requiring changes to the applications’ code. It also supports full hardware graphics acceleration via OpenGL ES 2.0.
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ParaScale Launches Open Private Cloud Storage Platform
ParaScale introduced ParaScale Cloud Storage software R2.0 – version 2 of its PCS clustered NAS system. The new release targets enterprise storage administrators who must economically scale capacity and performance, and service providers who want to offer a variety of storage cloud services. ParaScale’s open solution leverages any commodity hardware running Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS or CentOS, and can integrate applications directly onto storage nodes. PCS R2.0 also provides integration capabilities into virtualized environments and web services.
This latest release of ParaScale Cloud Storage software reflects the growing realization by global customers that existing approaches to managing their stored data assets prevent them from rapidly delivering a pool of storage that easily scales capacity and performance independently and economically.
The company claims PCS R2.0 removes these obstacles as a software-only solution that can be downloaded from the web and applied to any standard Linux platform to enable hundreds of commodity servers to be clustered together as a file repository, as a storage cloud with massive capacity and parallel throughput, or as a disaster recovery option for virtualized environments.
One of the key features of PCS R2.0 enables ParaScale to function as a back-up for virtual machines and their respective data. In the event of a failure, the virtual machines can be booted directly from ParaScale and be up and running in seconds without having to move around VM images.
According to Arun Taneja, principal, Taneja Group, the power and scale of cloud compute and storage begins to make sense in an open and interoperable environment where resources can be provisioned as needed, any commodity hardware can be added to grow the cloud including repurposed servers, and new applications can be leveraged to create a virtualized data center.
“ParaScale provides a unique open alternative to other cloud storage platforms and is developing an ecosystem of partners to integrate applications like back-up and disaster recovery, content management, and data migration on its storage servers,” he said.
“Storage teams in 2010 are going to face the issue of getting ready for growth with budgets and headcount frozen at 2009 levels. How are they going to pull off this magic? By going outside the box, by looking at technologies that the innovators are using and not old workhorse NAS technologies from 1990,” said Sajai Krishnan, CEO, ParaScale.
“Release 2.0 represents a significant step to provide our customers with a simple solution to store and manipulate any type of Tier II file data on higher-performance, more scalable, more accessible, and cheaper storage,” he added.
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Nokia Unveils N900 – The New Company’s Flagship Handset
Nokia has finally launched the N900 – running on the new Maemo 5 latest company’s smartphone, which has evolved from Nokia’s previous generation of internet tablets. “The open source, Linux-based Maemo software delivers a PC-like experience on a handset-sized device” says the company’s announcement.
Nokia N900 packs an ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz processor, up to 1GB of application memory and 3D graphics accelerator with OpenGL ES 2.0 support. The result is, as the company promises, “PC-like multitasking, allowing many applications to run simultaneously.”
New Nokia comes with a 3.5-inch 800×480 pixel touchscreen, the full physical slide-out QWERTY, internet connectivity with 10/2 HSPA and WLAN, Wi-Fi 54Mbps data transfer, Mozilla-based browser and full Adobe Flash 9.4 support.
To get the most out of the 5MP camera, Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash and 800 × 480 resolution video recording, Maemo software and the N900 come with a new tag cloud user interface.
The device also features GPS with pre-installed Ovi Maps, Bluetooth 2.1, FM transmitter, TV-out and 1320mAh battery. The panoramic homescreen can be fully personalized with shortcuts, widgets and applications. Maemo software updates happen automatically over the internet.
N900 has 32GB of storage, which is expandable up to 48GB via a microSD card.
"The Nokia N900 shows where we are going with Maemo and we’ll continue to work with the community to push the software forward. What we have with Maemo is something that is fusing the power of the computer, the internet and the mobile phone, and it is great to see that it is evolving in exciting ways," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President of Nokia.Nokia N900 will be available in select markets from October 2009 with an estimated retail price of EUR 500 and will be displayed at Nokia World, Stuttgart, on September 2.
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HTC Forecasts 50% US Sales Growth
Hot on the heels of launching its third Android smartphone, HTC is forecasting its US handset sales to grow by at least 50 per cent this year.With the arrival of the Hero, the Taiwanese phone maker is establishing itself as the leading manufacturer of the Linux-based devices.
The release of the Hero follows the G1 and the myTouch3G.
Jason Mackenzie, vice president of sales and marketing for HTC America, said this would help the company drive sales despite a smarphone market packed with rivals.
Apple, Palm and Research In Motion have all recently launched new handsets – and other major mobile makers are expected to release Android phones this year.
Mackenzie said HTC’s forecast sales growth would represent sales of around 6 million phones in the US this year."Competitively we feel very good," he said.
AT&T Mobility is seen as the carrier that will offer the Hero in the US this fall.
It will be available on T-Mobile and Orange in Europe in July and in Asia by late summer.
Similar in appearance to the G1, the Hero has an updated profile – no physical keyboard – and is based on a 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor.
It also has two of the highly-in-demand features – a 3.5mm headphone jack and the multi-touch and fingerprint-proof 3.2" HVGA touch display (320 x 480).
Other features include:
- a 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen
- 288 MB RAM
- quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
- 7.2 Mbps HSPA/WCDMA radios
- Bluetooth 2.0
- GPS
- digital compass
- gravity sensor
- 5 megapixel camera
- MicroSD slot
HTC has also layered its own UI – known as Sense – over and above the Google-backed Android.
This enables addition of gesture controls, widget support, and quick-launch icons for use in web-specific applications like e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.
The Hero also supports Adobe’s Flash technology.
While HTC’s Sense UI will be available on its non-Google branded Android devices, licensing terms prevent it being on any phone that’s got the "with Google" branding.
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Boxee Extends to all Windows Users, Adds Apps
Boxee is extending its media center access to Windows and will shortly change its "alpha" status to "beta".The open source media site has also announced four major new app partnerships that will be available to everyone downloading its software.
While Boxee has been available for Linux computers and Macs, it was only possible to get it for Windows as an invite-only alpha.
Despite this it has gained enthusiastic following for its support of almost any major file type and Internet apps.
Boxee has promised to keep the three platforms in sync as the service undergoes updates and upgrades.With around 120 apps in the Boxee App Box, users can now chose from the likes of MLB.tv, Current, Digg, and Tumblr.
Among the new partnerships announced at its App Developer Challenge in San Francisco, the Major League Baseball one is the most interesting.
The MLB arrangement marks Boxee’s first live streaming deal. MLB.tv Premium subs can now stream games through Boxee’s system in full HD from anywhere in the country on their TV.
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Acer First to Make Android Netbooks
Acer is to sell netbooks running Google’s Android operating system – with the first likely to be available before the end of the summer.The move is a setback for Microsoft, which was already selling its Windows OS at a reduced price to counter the threat posed by Linux.
Making the announcement at the Computex PC trade show in Taipei, Jim Wong, Acer’s global president for IT products, said the current netbook offerings were "not close to perfection at all".
He said if mobile Internet devices were not continually changed, consumers might not choose then any more.
Acer recently announced that it is to launch smartphones with the Android platform later this year.
Wong stressed that Acer will continue to use the Windows OS in its other netbooks.However, the cost of the Android-based devices should be less than Windows equivalents since the Linux-based Android system is free.
Microsoft charges USD $15 for each copy of Windows XP.
The Android netbooks will still use Intel Atom processors.
Acer, ASUS and other netbook makers had choosen to use Linux before but had experienced high return rates for those Linux models.
Users complained about difficulties using the OS.
Android has promised to simplify the experience without limiting support for 3G or other extras.
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Linux Successfully Ported To iPhone
The open-source OS Linux has been ported to the iPhone and iPod for the first time.A member of the iPhone Dev Team – going by the screen name Planetbeing – has managed to load Linux 2.6’s kernel to the 2G and 3G iPhone, as well as the first generation iPod Touch.
Although many drivers are missing, this first attempt offers support for the framebuffer driver, serial driver, and serial over USB driver.Certainly enough to announce that the iPhone is running an alternative OS.
The dev team is still working on issues such as enabling write support for the NAND, Wireless networking, Touchscreen support, Sound, Accelerometer and Baseband support.
It would appear there’s still much to be done, but it’s a big step forward for those desperate to have the iPhone able to boot an alternative OS such as Android.