Innovations in the Software Industry

More Extra Storage For Less

2009-11-12T04:14:00.000-05:00

When Gmail launched five years ago, it came with a gigabyte of storage space. A gigabyte doesn't seem like very much any more, and now every Gmail account comes with more than seven gigs of space (and growing). Still, some people manage to use up all of this (that's a lot of email...), so for over two years we've offered the option to purchase even more storage. This extra storage acts as an overflow that you only start using when you reach the limit of your free storage, and is shared for use between Gmail and Picasa Web Albums. Picasa has always come with a gigabyte of free storage to share photos, but people need even more storage as they start taking more pictures and moving full resolution backups of their photo collection into the cloud.

While storage costs have been dropping naturally, we've also been working hard to improve our infrastructure to reduce costs even further. Today, we're dramatically lowering our prices to make extra storage more affordable. You can now buy 20 GB for only $5 a year, twice as much storage for a quarter of the old price, and enough space for more than 10,000 full resolution pictures taken with a five megapixel camera. And if you need more than 20 GB, you can purchase up to 16 terabytes!

So if you're running out of space in your overflowing inbox, or want to keep full resolution copies of thousands of photos, visit www.google.com/accounts/PurchaseStorage to see all the plans and to buy more storage.

Source: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-extra-storage-for-less.html

Apple Overtakes Nokia As Most Profitable Handset Maker

2009-11-12T01:39:00.001-05:00

Apple has overtaken Nokia as the world’s most profitable handset vendor according to Strategy Analytics. TelephonyOnline reports that Nokia can still claim the largest global market share but Apple has overtaken in profits due to Nokia’s stagnant presence in the U.S. and the economic downturn. Strategoy Analytics estimates that Apple’s iPhone operating profit came in at $1.6 billion in Q3, while Nokia recorded only $1.1 billion in operating profit.

“With strong volumes, high wholesale prices and tight cost controls, the PC vendor has successfully broken into the mobile phone market in just two years,” said analyst Alex Spektor in the research note. It is not all bad news for Nokia.

Even with falling profits, it managed to capture 37.9% market share and ship 16.4 million handsets in the third quarter. Strategy Analytics said that focusing on the U.S., Apple’s high-profit home turf, will be the key to recovering in 2010, but that won’t be an easy fight. Nokia’s profit margin for its handset division has been shrinking during the entire 2009 global economic downturn, and the handset-maker is also facing increased pressure from Google Android devices and other new high-end smartphones planned for the rest of the year and into 2010.

Source:http://www.iphoneuserguide.com/apple/2009/11/12/iphone3g/apple-overtakes-nokia-as-most-profitable-handset-maker/

Amazon releases Kindle for PC

2009-11-11T07:29:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com today officially released its free Kindle for PC app, which lets people read Kindle electronic books on Windows-based personal computers. It works with Windows 7, Vista and XP, and Amazon is confirming that a Mac version is on the way (the company also told us a few weeks ago it's working on a Kindle BlackBerry app too).

Amazon is building a multi-device strategy for its Kindle business, looking to sell its digital books, newspapers and magazines across a range of gadgets, not just its dedicated Kindle readers. Amazon also has a Kindle app for the iPhone and iPod touch.

One thing I didn't note when Amazon earlier announced plans for the Kindle for PC app: it lets people read in full color, which may improve the experience of reading things like cookbooks, textbooks and graphic novels (Kindle readers only display shades of gray). People using the Kindle app on Windows 7 PCs will have touch-screen — the ability to zoom in and out of text and turn pages with a finger swipe.

Amazon isn't ignoring its Kindle readers, however. The company is heavily promoting the devices going into the holiday season, as are competitors. Barnes & Noble recently delayed the ship date for some pre-orders of its new Nook e-reader, citing high demand.

Source:http://www.techflash.com

100,000 DROIDS And Counting

2009-11-11T03:18:00.002-05:00

Estimates are in, and according to Broadpoint AmTech Inc representative Mark McKechnie, Motorola and Verizon Wireless probably sold 100,000 Droid phones in the opening weekend of the device’s launch. Stores were initially stocked with 200,000 and about half of each store’s inventory was depleted, with the 100,000 figure being a logical and unscientific extension.

Check out what Citigroup’s Jim Suva had to say on the matter:

Are you doing the same math as me? Motorola themselves will sell about 1/3 the number of Android Phones as Apple will sell iPhones next year. And then you’ve got Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony Ericsson and all of the other phone makers driving Android Phone sales.

Read full story here: http://phandroid.com/2009/11/10/100000-droids-and-counting/

Microsoft announces Exchange Server 2010 availability

2009-11-10T03:10:00.000-05:00

Today at the Microsoft Tech-Ed Europe 2009 conference in Germany, Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop announced that Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 is now available worldwide.

During an opening Keynote, Elop also announced the release of Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server. Forefront provides better anti-spam and multi server management tools.

"Exchange Server 2010 customers are already reporting cost savings of up to 70 percent thanks to a simplified high-availability model and support for lower-cost storage. Customers are also seeing productivity gains of more than 20 percent with a universal inbox that delivers e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging and text messaging consistently across virtually any device," Elop said. "Together with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the combined cost savings and improved productivity helps customers generate long-term business success."

Elop said more than 45,000 partners are trained on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010, with several partners announcing new services and solutions today, including AMD, Avanade, Dell, EMC, Kaspersky Lab, Symantec and Unisys.

Source: http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/09/microsoft-announces-exchange-server-2010-availability

Where should Mozilla go from here?

2009-11-10T00:44:00.000-05:00

Five years into Firefox, the Mozilla Foundation’s plans seem mainly geared to an aggressive release schedule, so that the browser can compete with Google Chrome.

There is irony here, because the bulk of Mozilla’s income comes from Google, in the form of royalties on the Google search box which sits on the upper-right corner of the program’s interface.

Thus we have a browser created to stop the Microsoft monopoly pushing what some say is the next dangerous monopoly, that of Google.

Firefox is not Mozilla’s only project. There is the Thunderbird e-mail client, the Bugzilla bug tracking system, and SeaMonkey, which combines Firefox and Thunderbird with Web development tools and chat.

But Firefox is what Mozilla is known for, and most of its work, and that of its add-on makers, is devoted to Firefox and the technologies that emerged from it.

Firefox has transformed the Web, by creating real competition to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. The question to ask today, however, is where does Mozilla go from here?

Can Mozilla expand its funding sources to become truly independent of Google?

Can Mozilla create real market share outside the browser?

Should Mozilla be focused on browser share, or leave that to Google Chrome and concentrate instead on HTML-related technologies?

What is Mozilla, in the end? What does the Foundation want to be?

Full Story: http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=5228

Review: Google's Droid could be iPhone killer

2009-11-09T00:45:00.001-05:00

Apple’s iPhone has dominated the smart-phone market the past couple of years, tearing down would be “iPhone killers” almost on a monthly basis.

This could soon change with the new Droid. Coupled with Google’s open-source software, Verizon's blazing network and Motorola’s new-age design, the Droid makes for a powerful Apple-directed dagger.

Structure
The phone is made up of two main pieces, the large, glass display up top, and the slightly longer keyboard / mainboard lower half. Above the 3.7-inch touch screen -- a full glass display with a large 480-by-854 resolution (slightly bigger than the iPhone).

There are four main buttons at the bottom of the display: back, menu, home and search. The top section slides smoothly upward to reveal the QWERTY keyboard.

The phone also has a 3.5-mm headphone jack and a power / sleep button, and camera button, a micro-USB port; a 5-megapixel camera (and flash), a thin, gold crosshatch strip that hides the Droid's speaker.

The thickness of the Droid is striking. It's just a bit thicker than the iPhone 3GS, which is impressive, considering it sports a full keyboard, a bigger screen than the iPhone and a flash-based camera.

Speed
The Droid sports a 600 MHz Arm Cortex A8 CPU 600MHz, with 256MB of RAM. That’s enough to browse the Internet, take a call on the speaker phone, while chatting it up on G-chat.

The phone was consistently responsive to opening and closing applications, switching between landscape and portrait modes, and multi-tasking. Users can further speed up their phone by turning off animations and effects.

Keyboard
The Droid’s built-in keyboard is a blessing for those still not comfortable with the virtual counterpart. The keyboard has shallow, but responsive click keys.

Although the keys can feel a bit cramped, typing on the Droid is an easy experience that will come naturally after a couple of days of use.

If you’re into the onscreen keyboard, you won’t be disappointed. The buttons are relatively large, and most importantly pretty accurate. You won’t be using the delete button as much as many iPhone users complain they must.

Camera
Motorola has outfitted the DROID with a 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash. The camera features the Android software that controls auto focus, flash settings, white balance and effects.

The biggest problem is that the camera is e painfully slow to focus and take pictures. Users can tweak the settings between close-ups and landscape photos to try to speed up the camera speed, but it's not an easy thing to do on the fly.

The quality of recorded video is one of the Droid's biggest assets. The Droid shoots at 720-by-480 resolution that produced some impressive shake-free videos and clear videos. The camera was able to handle shooting in bright sunlight, at night and even on a rainy day.

The Droid won’t replace the camera you use for weddings or formal social events, but it’s one of the sweetest phone cameras around.

Software
So what did Google do to support all the hardware pushed by Motorola? The biggest thing that will jump out to iPhone users is the multi-application support.

Users can read their Gmail, while listening to Pandora radio, while the built-in GPS tracks their location.

Gmail and Gchat setup is as easy as signing in to your Google account during the initial setup. After that, the phone will be continually connected to both (unless you choose otherwise). Users can also easily setup POP / IMAP / Exchange email accounts on the Droid.

Facebook account integration is built into the Android, so that all your friends will sync on your contact and calendar list. (Thankfully, this is only an option.) As for the application itself, you get a widget with the news feed, photos, friends list, profile, notifications, and an option to take a picture to post.

The contact list is straightforward. The quick contact function allows users to tap on someone's name and get a menu with jumps to the various ways you can reach out; if you're friends with someone on Facebook, you'll be given an option to message them there, along with SMS, phone, and e-mail choices.

APPS
At the opening bell on Friday, the Droid will have about 25,000 (free and paid) applications available, ranging from Facebook and Twitter to hundred of games.

While the iPhone claims over 100,000 apps, it will only be a matter time before the Droid hits the six figure mark. With Google’s Android’s open source software, it will probably be sooner than later.

Browser
The Web browsing might be one of the biggest selling points of the Droid. Surfing the net on this thing is virtually painless. Compared to the Apple’s ATNT network, the Verizon 3G network is blazing.

The Droid’s browser had no problem quickly loading graphic intensive sites like Newsday.com.

Coupled with the Droid’s massive display, its responsiveness, and speed, browsing and navigating the Internet is pretty easy and painless.

GPS
The Droid features fully realized turn-by-turn navigation which integrates with Google Maps. If you're familiar with Google Maps, the navigation is intuitive and easy to learn.

Google has gone all out with the GPS extras, providing a rich mixture of its satellite, map, traffic, and location info with text-to-speech directions.

Google also added layers like parking info, ATM spots, restaurants, and gas station locations like most dedicated GPS devices.

Probably the most important part of the Droid’s GPS services, its free.

Battery
My biggest disappointment with the Droid was its relatively short battery life. If you’re thinking of using a lot of screen time or heavy application usage, the phone will let you down.

About 30 minutes of listening to Pandora radio through a headset, pretty much drained most of the phone's battery. If you’re considering the Droid, be prepared to buy a couple of sets of chargers (home, office, vehicle).

Overall
The Droid is an excellent smart-phone with many of the features that a modern user would expect, and for Verizon customers, there isn't a more action packed device on the network.

Coupled with Google’s smooth software, Verizon's killer network, and Motorola’s new-aged design, the Droid makes for a powerful tool.

Full Story:http://www.newsday.com/

Transparency, choice and control — now complete with a Dashboard!

2009-11-08T11:48:00.002-05:00

We are excited to announce the launch of Google Dashboard. Have you ever wondered what data is stored with your Google Account? The Google Dashboard offers a simple view into the data associated with your account — easily and concisely in one location.

Over the past 11 years, Google has focused on building innovative products for our users. Today, with hundreds of millions of people using those products around the world, we are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy and data.

In the past, we've taken numerous steps in this area, investing in educating our users with our Privacy Center, making it easier to move data in and out of Google with our Data Liberation Front, and allowing you to control the ads you see with interest-based advertising. Transparency, choice and control have become a key part of Google's philosophy, and today, we're happy to announce that we're doing even more.

In an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control over their own data, we've built the Google Dashboard. Designed to be simple and useful, the Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings.

Google Dashboard covers more than 20 products and services, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Web History, Orkut, YouTube, Picasa, Talk, Reader, Alerts, Latitude and many more. The scale and level of detail of the Dashboard is unprecedented, and we're delighted to be the first Internet company to offer this — and we hope it will become the standard. Watch this quick video to learn more and then try it out for yourself at www.google.com/dashboard.

Source : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Apple opens its first retail store in France

2009-11-07T12:28:00.001-05:00

Today Apple opened its second store on mainland Europe at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, France. They don't stop there, however; another store in Montpellier, France opens next week on November 14th and one near the Opera Ganier to debut in the summer of 2010.

France's first Apple store opens today at 10AM CET. This is a prestigious location to be sure, right across the famous inverted pyramid inside the Louvre museum
. Just for that it would be worthwhile to visit this store, which spans two floors. 150 employees work in the store to offer the same services, which have made the Apple Store experience a success all over the world. The first 5000 visitors will receive a limited edition t-shirt.

This year, close to 170 million people visited Apple Stores on four different continents. Apple has already opened 277 stores in 10 countries: France, U.S., UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan and China.

Source:http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/07/first-apple-store-opens-in-paris

iPhone 3GS vs Verizon Motorola Droid: what has better camera?

2009-11-06T05:05:00.000-05:00

Now when it comes to the Apple iPhone 3GS and the Verizon Motorola Droid many are probably wondering what smartphone has the best camera, well here is a little insight with a few answers.

Verizon Droid vs. iPhone 3GS Side-by-Side Camera Showdown is what TiPB are calling it, right first up the Motorola DROID has a 5 megapixel dual LED flash which is better than the iPhone’s 3.2 MP camera, so on the spec sheet the DROID is better, NOPE afraid not.

Well apparently when you put photos up side-by-side of these two phones which you can see over on Flickr it seems the 5 MP is not as good as the 3.2MP. The iPhone produces and consistently produced prettier images and this is down to the software because the Droids software is easily bamboozled by uncooperative lighting.

For more information please get to : www.phonesreview.co.uk

Introducing Closure Tools

2009-11-06T01:45:00.003-05:00

Millions of Google users worldwide use JavaScript-intensive applications such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Maps. Like developers everywhere, Googlers want great web apps to be easier to create, so we've built many tools to help us develop these (and many other) apps. We're happy to announce the open sourcing of these tools, and proud to make them available to the web development community.

Closure Compiler
Closure Compiler is a JavaScript optimizer that compiles web apps down into compact, high-performance JavaScript code. The compiler removes dead code, then rewrites and minimizes what's left so that it will run fast on browsers' JavaScript engines. The compiler also checks syntax, variable references, and types, and warns about other common JavaScript pitfalls. These checks and optimizations help you write apps that are less buggy and easier to maintain. You can use the compiler with Closure Inspector, a Firebug extension that makes debugging the obfuscated code almost as easy as debugging the human-readable source.

Because JavaScript developers are a diverse bunch, we've set up a number of ways to run the Closure Compiler. We've open-sourced a command-line tool. We've created a web application that accepts your code for compilation through a text box or a RESTful API. We are also offering a Firefox extension that you can use with Page Speed to conveniently see the performance benefits for your web pages.

Closure Library
Closure Library is a broad, well-tested, modular, and cross-browser JavaScript library. Web developers can pull just what they need from a wide set of reusable UI widgets and controls, as well as lower-level utilities for the DOM, server communication, animation, data structures, unit testing, rich-text editing, and much, much more. (Seriously. Check the docs.)

JavaScript lacks a standard class library like the STL or JDK. At Google, Closure Library serves as our "standard JavaScript library" for creating large, complex web applications. It's purposely server-agnostic and intended for use with the Closure Compiler. You can make your project big and complex (with namespacing and type checking), yet small and fast over the wire (with compilation). The Closure Library provides clean utilities for common tasks so that you spend your time writing your app rather than writing utilities and browser abstractions.

Closure Templates
Closure Templates grew out of a desire for web templates that are precompiled to efficient JavaScript. Closure Templates have a simple syntax that is natural for programmers. Unlike traditional templating systems, you can think of Closure Templates as small components that you compose to form your user interface, instead of having to create one big template per page.

Complete Post : http://googlecode.blogspot.com/

The Flickr App Garden : A Home for Third Party Apps

2009-11-05T04:28:00.003-05:00

Flicker has an open and influential API supporting a consuderable count of apps. Decelopers have built a whopping number of lofty applications and nifty toys since its inceptin in 2004.

Earlier the users had to search for apps on the web and developers tend to use their own websited for the promotion of their apps. But now you can riff through and uncover Flicker apps in one principal position i.e. The New App Garden. Apps in the garden varies from stats to importing/exporting to integration with other sites.

Flickr too has gleaned some enphasizing apps on its front page. In this home for third party apps, developers are required to submit the apps themselves as the App Garden does not list all the apps itself. Along with the info you religiously scan on every photo page, you can now recognize which app the photographer used to upload the image.

For developers, there is a plethora of tempations to offer their appss and if you're a Flickr power user, you'll certainly crave to explore what's already been posted.

Verizon to Double Early Termination Fees

2009-11-05T00:40:00.000-05:00

It appears that Verizon Wireless is planning on doubling its current early termination fee (ETF) for smartphone customers from $175 up to $350 beginning as of 11/15/09. The prorating-per-month will stay: $10 for each month of service completed, which still means that a subscriber completing almost 2 years (23 months) would still owe an ETF of $120.

What makes this of particular relevance to the PreCentral community, beyond the near-certainty that Verizon Wireless will begin marketing the Pre and/or other webOS devices in January 2010, is that this increased ETF will reportedly affect "customers purchasing an Advanced Device." We're fairly confident that the Pre will fall under that category, so buyer beware.

Hopefully, to the extent that Verizon Wireless is making it harder to leave the service, it will also make it easier to join, with significant subsidies on webOS devices when they hit its network. Dare to dream, friends.

Source:http://www.precentral.net/gizmodo-boygeniusreport-verizon-double-early-termination-fees

For confirmation on this read : www.boygeniusreport.com

The New MSN Homepage Unveiled

2009-11-04T06:44:00.000-05:00

See what MSN Corporate Vice President Erik Jorgensen has to say about it.

Today is an exciting day for our team at MSN because we unveiled the most significant redesign our MSN.com homepage has seen in over a decade. We spent thousands of hours talking with customers; testing hundreds of ideas; experimenting around the world and carefully evaluating what our users want, and don’t want - to deliver a homepage that is designed to be the best homepage on the Web. We hope you’ll agree.

In our conversations with customers, we consistently heard that you want less clutter, easier access to the information & services you care about, and powerful search integration to help you make decisions faster. So, we started from scratch to cut the clutter on our homepage and reduced the amount of links by 50%. There’s also a simplified navigation across news, entertainment, sports, money, and lifestyle that lets you drill into information topics that interest you, without being overwhelming.

Local information from your neighborhood is important to you and so is high quality, in-line video – so we offer both, right on the homepage. And, you told us you want the latest information not only from your favorite sources, but also from your friends, and the breadth of the Web – so we now offer convenient access to Facebook, Twitter, & Windows Live services and the most powerful search experience on the Web from Bing, empowering you to make more informed, faster decisions. And this is just the beginning - keep visiting our blog for more MSN news in the coming weeks.

The simple, uncluttered environment of our new homepage also affords an advertising opportunity, unlike anything we’ve offered before. Advertisers can create a conversation with customers through engaging, high-performing, rich-media advertising campaigns and know their message will resonate. Advertisers who have seen early previews of the site love the new design and the new ad opportunities have been well received. You’ll see more on this in the coming months.

The new homepage will begin rolling out tomorrow and become widely available to over 100 million U.S. customers early next year. We didn't have a renowned director or cinematographer handy, but we did have a tripod, so U.S. Executive Producer Scott Moore and I did a video that will give you a little more information about the new MSN.

More: http://msnblog.msn.com
http://www.microsoft.com/

Disney Releases iPhone App to AppStore

2009-11-04T03:35:00.001-05:00

Disney.com announced it has launched an app for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store.

The company said the Disney App features an array of Disney content including areas dedicated to Characters, Music, Video and Games. Content in the app will be updated regularly, providing kids and families with instant access to the latest Disney news and entertainment.

The new Disney App will also offer features including "Click2Life" which allows iPhone users to take pictures of images from the online version of Disney.com with their device that will then come to life within the app and turn into an animated image, the company said. Additionally, Disney said the App will automatically discover other Disney apps and games available through the App Store, organizing all Disney-branded content within one destination on each device so users can access their favorite games and entertainment content.

"While this app provides seamless access to all things Disney, delivering unmatched entertainment and information directly to mobile devices, we're not simply recreating Disney.com on your iPhone or iPod touch," said Jason Davis, vice president, Disney.com. "Features like 'Click2Life' utilize iPhone's revolutionary functionality to create exciting new ways to interact with Disney characters and content."

More Information: http://www.disney.com

Full Story:http://www.tmcnet.com

What Is Google Wave, Anyway? New e-Book Explains

2009-11-03T06:55:00.000-05:00

Google Wave has generated a lot of interest in the past few months, despite most people I’ve talked to being unclear about what the service is, and how to use it. I confess that after I finally got an invitation, I was somewhat perplexed when faced with Google Wave’s minimal interface.

Tech writers Gina Trapani and Adam Pash have created an online e-book, “The Complete Guide to Google Wave,” which does an excellent job of explaining what Google Wave is and how it can be used. The book provides step-by-step instructions on how to get invited to the service, what to do when you get there, and how to make the most of it.

For those of us who are used to skimming the highlights and jumping around in technical manuals, I strongly suggest that you read the book — at least the first couple of chapters — in full. It’s not that long, and will give you a working knowledge of the service. I suspect that web workers will find Wave to be a very useful collaboration tool once we get used to using it.

The book is written in a clear, straightforward style, and is sprinkled with helpful and sometimes humorous quotes like this one from Wave user Andy Baio: “I keep pushing the New Wave button, but it never plays Depeche Mode or The Cure.”

An electronic version of the book will be offered for sale beginning in November; it’s unclear whether the online version will continue to be available once the book comes out. So if you’re interested in Google Wave, this is an excellent time to learn more about it. But you may need some patience; the book’s web site has been very slow, as I suspect it’s getting more traffic than the authors expected.

Are you using Google Wave?

Source: http://webworkerdaily.com/

Skype for Linux set to be released as open source

2009-11-03T04:31:00.003-05:00

Skype is very well known software for those seeking to make video and audio calls to those they know, and is even handier considering it's available on Mac, PC and Linux. Now, however, the Linux community is about to get one step better: Skype will soon become open source.

The news, initially reported by Olivier Faurax (link in French) and then Linux Crunch, came in the form of an email to Skype. It stated, "We understand that many users complain that there is no Mandriva version at present. We are happy to be able to inform you that Skype will from now on be part of the open source community.

Therefore Linux developers will be enabled to influence the development of the Skype client for Linux - which will most certainly result in specific versions for the different distributions." Linux Crunch then contacted Skype and received the following reply: "We appreciate our user community's enthusiasm and realize this is something they have been wanting for a while.

We realize the potential of the open source community and believe that making Skype for Linux an open source application will help to speed up its development and enhance its compatibility with different versions of Linux. While it is our goal to make Skype for Linux source code available to the community in the nearest future, we are not at a point to disclose an exact release date yet."

More:http://www.neowin.net/news/software/09/11/03/skype-for-linux-set-to-be-released-as-open-source

Mobile Phones are the New Computer

2009-11-02T00:51:00.009-05:00

The mobile phone is the new computer. The desktop computer is not going away, but the smartphone market is growing fast. Phones are being used as computers by more people and for more purposes. Just as we still have supercomputers today but most people use desktop computers everyday, soon desktop computers will be relegated to the specialist and elite professional, and most people will use their mobile phones for their computing needs.

Already there are more mobile phones than computers connected to the internet. Smartphones are generally cheaper than computers. With their primary role as communication devices, they are often more useful. The smartphone of today will be the standard phone a few years from now. With profits from applications growing, we’ll see continued subsidies of the hardware and operating systems by manufacturers and carriers, keeping new phones cheap or free.

We’re also seeing a change in how people use computers. More often applications we use are centered around communications (more commonly termed “workflow”) than the more traditional personal computer task of document creation. In the business world, we file expense reports, approve decisions, or comment on proposals. As consumers, we read reviews, send short notes to friends, and share photos. Email is the killer app of the late 20th century, rather than the word processor or spreadsheet.

I’ve never been a gadget geek and have skirted getting into mobile application development before now. The actual engineering challenges of working with native code on a device doesn’t scare me, but just didn’t seem worth it. Developing apps for a phone typically meant that you were working for a carrier, directly or indirectly subjected to the whims of a monstrously large company, and often disconnected from the people actually using the application.

Mobile development also seemed to attract the same style of engineer as game development: interested in the tech for itself, with less interest in the end result, and a feeling that the application is “cool” because it runs on a gadget, independent of its usefulness. Mobile apps weren’t attractive to me as a developer or someone who might use them. I always said that I would start using a PDA when they had the resolution and battery life of paper, and the phone was suited for direct communication with another human being via voice.

Full Story Here: http://www.ultrasaurus.com

Apple TV 3.0 offers new interface

2009-10-31T02:15:00.002-05:00

Apple has rolled out the Version 3.0 software for its Apple TV, offering a new user interface as well as new features including direct access to internet radio. A new update for iTunes software takes care of full interoperability.

The Apple TV 3.0 software comes complete with a redesigned main menu that helps in faster navigation. On demand HD movie buys and rentals, HD TV shows, music and podcasts have become more exciting with the brand new Version 3.0, according to Apple.

With the new version, iTunes Extras and iTunes LP can be enjoyed in fullscreen on the Apple TV; and Genius Mixes and internet Radio can be played back on a home theatre system. It comes with totally revamped user interface, making the set-top box experience much better than the earlier versions. The new menu also boasts of support for iPhoto Events and iPhoto Faces.

The iTunes Extras that have been added promises additional content such as deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries, while iTunes LP delivers “a rich experience for select albums on the iTunes Store,” such as live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews and images.

“The new software for Apple TV features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favorite content,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s VP of internet Services, said in a statement.

“HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV customers, and with Apple TV 3.0 they get great new features including iTunes Extras, Genius Mixes andinternet radio.”

The iTunes 9.0.2 update adds Apple TV 3.0 support. The new Apple TV update might also kill unapproved software such as Boxee.

Source:http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2009/10/30/apple-tv-3-0-offers-new-interface/

Wordpress for iPhone 2: Mobile Blogging Just Got Easier

2009-10-30T03:54:00.000-05:00

The new version of Wordpress for iPhone just arrived in the App Store (iTunes link). While the first version was already quite usable, this update brings a number of new features and usability enhancements to the Wordpress experience on the iPhone. The new interface makes it easier to switch between comments, posts and pages. The comments interface now also displays Gravatars. Throughout the app, the Wordpress team has tweaked the interface and it's now easier to manage your blog from the iPhone.

Features

The new version also now automatically saves posts and restores them if the network connection is lost during the publishing process.

Just like the first version, Wordpress for iPhone 2 is an open-source program.

It's important to note that this new version will not appear as an update to the old version. Instead, users will have to install a new app, which can run side-by-side with the older version.

The new version, of course, still offers the same basic feature set as the earlier version. These include support for multiple blogs, photo uploads and post previews, as well as full support for tags, categories and password protected posts.

Blogging on the iPhone

There can be little doubt that the iPhone - or any mobile phone for that matter - isn't the ideal platform for writing long, thoughtful blog posts. Maybe that's why Wordpress for iPhone 2 puts more emphasis on comment moderation than the first version.

For a quick blog post on the road, though, the app is perfectly adequate, especially if you just want to upload a few pictures. It's not as easy to use as the more specialized PicPosterous, but Wordpress for iPhone 2 is a far more flexible application and Wordpress has a different user in mind for this app.

Full News Here

Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 Released

2009-10-30T00:09:00.000-05:00

Ubuntu today released its latest offering namely Ubuntu Karmic Koala version 9.10. Ubuntu Karmic Koala comes with lots of new features.

New Features in Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10

Upstart - an event-based replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of tasks and services during boot, stopping them during shutdown and supervising them while the system is running.

Software Center - a graphical utility for package management in Ubuntu. It replaces the Add/Remove programs tool.

# GNOME version 2.28

Quickly - An easy way to develop applications for Ubuntu and package them in a deb format.

Ubuntu Karmic Koala is available in 25 languages.

Linux kernel 2.6.31

Ubuntu One - Integrates your Ubuntu machine with the cloud providing you free 2 GB of space to store and synchronize all your data like Tomboy notes, imortant files, contacts et al. More space is available for a nominal price of $10 / month.

Better support for Intel chipsets

Ext4 file system by default.

Grub 2

Improved and enhanced AppArmor.

More: http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2009/10/ubuntu-karmic-koala-910-released.html

What is the best industry for starting a new business ?

2009-10-28T15:38:00.003-05:00

Guess which industry is ranked 2nd on Inc magazine list of "Top industries for starting a business".

Apple launched its App Store last summer, creating a whole new burgeoning industry in the process. Sales of apps in the first month topped $30 million, leading Steve Jobs to predict that the marketplace would be worth $1 billion some day. To date, companies have produced more than 30,000 applications, ranging from games such as Tap Tap Revenge to apartment-hunting help to tools for finding out the name of a song; in all, Apple has processed more than a billion downloads. To capitalize on the trend, venture-capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins have begun investing in app producers; the venerable Sand Hill Road firm has earmarked $100 million for the market.

The full story is here.

Announcing Android 2.0 support in the SDK!

2009-10-28T05:38:00.003-05:00

I am excited to announce that the Android SDK now supports Android 2.0 (also known as Eclair).

Android 2.0 brings new developer APIs for sync, Bluetooth, and a few other areas. Using the new sync, account manager and contacts APIs, you can write applications to enable users to sync their devices to various contact sources. You can also give users a faster way to communicate with others by embedding Quick Contact within your application. With the new Bluetooth API, you can now easily add peer-to-peer connectivity or gaming to your applications. To get a more complete list of the new capabilities you can add to your applications, please go to the Android 2.0 highlights page.

Current developers can use the SDK Manager to add Android 2.0 support to their SDK as well as update their SDK Tools to revision 3. New developers can download the Android SDK from the download site. After the download, Android platforms must be added using the SDK Manager.

Android SDK Tools, revision 3 is required to develop for Android 2.0. It includes support for code coverage through the Ant build system, as well as Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) support for the SDK and related tools. For those of you who develop using Eclipse, we are releasing ADT version 0.9.4 through the usual Eclipse update mechanism.

Over the next few months, we expect to see more and more Android devices being released. These devices will be running Android 1.5, 1.6, or 2.0. We are also planning a minor version update of Android 2.0 towards the end of the year, and that will be the last update for 2009. Below are some of the things you can do to be better prepared:

* Download the Android 2.0 platform and make sure your existing apps continue to work on new devices running Android 2.0.

* Make sure that your apps work when using the WVGA (800x480) & FWVGA (854x480) emulator skins. We expect devices with these types of screen, running Android 2.0 to be launched soon.

Source:http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/10/announcing-android-20-support-in-sdk.html

Nasa releases iPhone application

2009-10-27T06:05:00.000-05:00

Nasa has released its own iPhone application, which allows users to view the space agency’s vast library of images and to track spacecraft in real time.

Astronomy geeks can also keep up to date with the Nasa Twitter feeds, watch Nasa videos and do their own countdowns to the big launches.

The app, available free through the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, has four functions – “Missions”, “Images”, “Video” and “Updates”.

It lets users see instantly where in the skies the International Space Station is, using a Google Maps-based system (at the time of writing it is over the North Pacific, just south of Alaska, moving towards the western United States and Mexico). If a Space Shuttle was flying, iPhone owners could track that too.

You can also use it to keep up to date with Constellation, the proposed Space Shuttle replacement. The Ares 1-X rocket, the first test rocket of the new mission, is expected to launch on 27 October.

It also provides an Image of the Day – currently a pre-launch shot of Ares 1-X – and an Astronomy Picture of the Day, currently a series of beautiful images of galaxies called Galaxy Zoo.

This is not the only app targeted at stargazing iPhone owners. Pocket Universe creates a planetarium within the iPhone, letting users see what constellations are visible from where they are.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/6439041/Nasa-releases-iPhone-application.html

Google Rolling Out Social Search (in Labs)

2009-10-27T01:07:00.005-05:00

There are two brass rings in search these days: real time and social. Google (and Bing) have been working on the real time thing with Twitter, and last week Google announced they were working on a Social Search option in Labs—and now it’s out.

With Social Search, Google finds relevant public content from your friends and contacts and highlights it for you at the bottom of your search results. When I do a simple query for [new york], Google Social Search includes my friend’s blog on the results page under the heading “Results from people in your social circle for New York.” I can also filter my results to see only content from my social circle by clicking “Show options” on the results page and clicking “Social.”

All of the info in Social Search is publicly available, but they highlight info based on their (massive data collection) information about you from:

Google profile contacts

Gmail contacts, chats and groups

People you’re following on FriendFeed or Twitter

Feeds in your Google Reader

Story URL : http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/10/