Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 27th Feb 2013 22:42 UTC
"Firefox OS could actually be wildly successful, no matter how underwhelming the actual phones may be. And that's because - at least for now - you're not the customer; your carrier is." I'm extremely disappointed by Firefox OS so far. There's nothing wrong with the low-end hardware we've seen during MWC, but there is something wrong with low-end hardware that can't even properly run its operating system. To make matters worse, carriers are the boss here. Terrible first impression.
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RE: Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance
by moondevil on Thu 28th Feb 2013 08:27
in reply to "Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance"
Member since:2005-07-08
RE[2]: Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance
by przemo_li on Thu 28th Feb 2013 08:35
in reply to "RE: Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance"
Member since:2010-06-01
RE[2]: Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance
by crystall on Thu 28th Feb 2013 12:22
in reply to "RE: Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance"
Member since:2007-02-06
I doubt that Firefox OS will ever be able to run faster as my optimized C#/Java/C++ applications.
It depends a lot on what you're doing, for applications with a heavy computational factor it most certainly won't (though matching Java/C# is not impossible in JavaScript). For applications leveraging the runtime more it can be every bit as fast as a native application from the user perspective.
The JavaScript JIT better be a very good one.
It is improving and some of the latest optimization frameworks being introduced @Mozilla are specifically geared towards actual web apps rather than regular web pages (the IonMonkey JIT for example).
RE: Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance
by lucas_maximus on Thu 28th Feb 2013 22:05
in reply to "Low-end handsets, emerging markets and performance"
Member since:2009-08-18
Can you do me a massive favour and communicate to the other Firefox guys that the desktop version is still a pile of shite.
The inspector tools are shit unless you use Firebug, which is third party so it probably leaks fuck loads of memory everywhere.
When are you guys going to get you are spreading yourselves too thinly.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
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2007-02-06
Disclaimer: I work on the Firefox OS project so I'm biased towards it.
I wanted to chime in on the first impression many had of the operating system. The phones we're demonstrating Firefox OS on are incredibly underpowered, they've got specs comparable to the lowest-end Android phones. There's a reason for it: they're intended to be launched in emerging markets at very low prices. That's part of the project's goals, to provide a wide range of people currently limited to feature phones with a smartphone-like experience with the added benefit of optimal access to the web.
Yet there's a couple of performance aspects that I'd like to underline. If you'll have the chance of trying the handsets yourself you'll notice that their performance is not bad at all, with most apps capable of a very smooth experience (55+ FPS during transitions/animation is not uncommon). More importantly it's not bad at all when compared to similar Android handsets and it's nothing short of amazing when you realize that's just HTML, CSS and JavaScript code running on slow, single-core, single-issue ARM processors.
In addition to this the OS in general tends to use significantly less memory hungry than Android for comparable tasks, that's an aspect we were very focused on.
Just to show that I'm not making this up check Andy Rubin's comment on this:
http://allthingsd.com/20130226/googles-andy-rubin-on-firefox-os-in-...
From the article:
“There are places where Android can’t go,” he said, referring to memory and other hardware requirements.