Linux

Free as in what?

Android on iPhone

2
1 year ago
by frankps in , , ,

I thought this day would never come…

But then again, I have iPhone with all the apps I need. And I am not sure that I will dual-boot and sure not on my work phone!

ACCESS finally showing what they have been working on for years

0
2 years ago
by frankps in ,
Else Intuition

Else Intuition

I was sitting with my first coffee cup reading computer related news at one of my favourite sites, Engadget, when I saw that ACCESS finally was showing of a phone running their operating system.

First problem, the newsupdate contains no newsworthy information except from the picture. Just see how Engadget struggled:

“Linux-based mobile platform that comes with such a hyperbolic press release that we can’t help but think every other mobile manufacturer should just pack up and go home. It’s said to match the functionality of “top ranked MP3 players, best-in-class GPS devices, and more, while maintaining an exceptional ease and simplicity of use.”

The information in the pres srelease can best be said to be the marketing department at play. So off I went to Access’ web pages to find further information. Started with looking through the press release, just to make sure that it actually said nothing. I then visited the product page, which made me even more concerned. The only thing I could find was a refined version of Google’s Android OS, and the only thing special with Access Linux Platform 3.0 (ALP) seemed to be that is comes with Access own NetFront browser. If you visit the product page, make sure to have a look at their presentation of Android OS, I mean ALP! And if that wasn’t enough, earlier this week we got the first screenshots of Android 2.0 over at The Boy Genius Report. I have only grabbed one screenshot, and you can see the rest of them in the article Android 2.0 screenshots.

It should be needless to say, that the similarities are many, perhaps to many. And that the similarities raise the question, do we need ALP at all? I can only conclude with NO!

Is Google asking for antitrust?

0
2 years ago
by frankps in , , ,

Google has announced a new Chrome Operating System, designed for the web and with a browser baked directly into it — so much so that the entire OS is named after it. ZDNet Australia has posted a great article – http://www.zdnet.com.au/blogs/null-pointer/soa/Blog-Is-Google-asking-for-antitrust-/0,2001102868,339297304,00.htm

From the article I would like to quote this:

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If Opera has a problem with IE on Windows, they are positively going to blow many a gasket when they see what Google has in store. I’d expect the Norwegian browser maker to be drawing up a complaint to the European Commission as we speak — lest they’d want to be known as hypocritical.

We can only hope that the dog bites the hand that feeds it! If I have understood it correctly Opera has gotten some money from Google through the years.

ZTE Cocktail

1
2 years ago
by frankps in , , ,

Today I bought an HSDPA modem (ZTE MF628) designed by Moods of Norway. Three designs are available, and I chose ZTE Cocktail with blue tractors and pink cocktails (I guess that is how they party on Voss?). Who said that modems all should have the same horrible design? The three design got launched during the Oslo Fashion Week back in February this year.

Mobile Broadband - Moods of Norway

The modem is made by ZTE Corporation, an unknown company for us living in Norway, but it is China’s largest listed telecommunications manufacturer and wireless solutions provider. It can do downloads up to 7,2 Mbps.

Mobile Broadband - Moods of Norway

The installation of the modem’s straight forward as long as you install it for Windows XP/Vista. I didn’t manage to install it for Windows 7. It also comes with drivers for MacOS X, and it also reported to work with Linux (Ubuntu). The coolness dropped a little bit, when I saw the horrible user interface that came with the application that establishes the Internet connection. Fact is, I have never seen a good design for this simple kind of application. Mobile Connect looked ok, launch2net did not! I haven’t used the modem a lot, but it seems to be of a good quality. The modem also come with the possibility to read/write to Mini-SD card. Nice for people having digital compact camera with that kind of card reader.

Netcom ZTE

Hopefully a future version of the modem’s driver, let you do the dial up directly from Windows 7, without these funny/horrible looking 3rd party applications.

Layar for Android phones

0
2 years ago
by frankps in , ,

Layar is a ground breaking new browser. The browser is said to be an augmented reality browser, and can show what is around you by displaying real time digital information on top of reality through the camera of your mobile phone:

The browser is at the moment only available in the Netherlands, and this is how it works: On top of the camera image Layar adds content layers. These layers are equivalent to webpages in normal browsers. Just like there are thousands of websites there can be be thousands of layers. One can easily switch between layers by selecting another via the menu button, pressing the logobar or by swiping your finger across the screen.

Companies get the possibility to publish their own layer in Layar (through an API). Several companies have already signed up for Layar and will publish their own content in their branded layer soon. Layers will be available per country.

And the iPhone? It is not forgotten: In this interview below the key developer says that we can expect a Layar application for the iPhone 3G S this autumn:

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