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Windows Phone 8.1 rumours emerge

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-09 Windows 101 Comments

Paul Thurrot has a number of rumours up about Windows Phone 8.1. Two stand out to me.

Where GDR3 is widely expected to support 5- to 6-inch screens, 8.1 will supposedly support 7- to 10-inch screens as well. This obviously infringes on Windows RT/8.x tablets, so it's not clear what the thinking is there.

So, Windows RT will become even more pointless than it already is.

Aping the iPhone navigation model, Microsoft will apparently remove the Back button from the Windows Phone hardware specification with 8.1. The Back button just doesn't make sense, I was told: Users navigate away from an app by pressing the Start button and then open a new app, just like they do on iPhone. And the "back stack" is ill-understood by users: Most don't realize what they're doing when they repeatedly hit the Back button.

This I am not happy with. The back button is my main navigational input in both Android and Windows Phone, and I miss it dearly in iOS.

I'm just hoping on performance improvements, still my biggest issue with Windows Phone. I used my HTC 8X for a few hours today, and I was stunned by just how slow everything is compared to Android 4.3. Of course, application quality is another huge issue, but there's little Microsoft can do to convince developers that their Windows Phone applications are more than just side projects done between serious work on Android and iOS.

How to get real applications running on the Galaxy Gear

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-09 Wireless 4 Comments

The Galaxy Gear just got interesting.

While the Samsung Galaxy Gear isn't the greatest piece of consumer technology we've ever seen, once you sidestep Samsung's not-very-useful software, you'll find a pretty cool platform for hacking.

The Galaxy Gear ships with a "USB debug" checkbox in the settings. Check that box, hook it up to a computer, and it will be usable with ADB, the Android Debug Bridge. ADB will in turn allow you to fire up a command line and sideload whatever you want onto the Gear's 4GB of storage. The Gear runs Android 4.2.2 with an 800MHz processor and 512MB of RAM, so it can run real apps just like any other Android device. Considering that the original Android phones all had 528MHz processors and only 192MB of RAM, the Gear is a miniature powerhouse in comparison.

This could very well be the saving grace for this otherwise mediocre consumer device. I'm very curious to see what the XDA community can do with this.

Galaxy Round is the first phone with a curved display

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-09 Wireless 13 Comments

Samsung has taken the wrapper off its rumored smartphone with a curved OLED display. The Galaxy Round, which will launch on SK Telecom in South Korea, has a 5.7-inch 1080p screen the same size as seen on the company's Galaxy Note 3, but there's a difference - it curves on the vertical axis in a similar fashion to some of Samsung's OLED TVs.

Technologically interesting, but otherwise, I fail to see the point. The screen itself is probably more resilient than traditional ones, but since I'm assuming it has a glass cover, that aspect becomes moot. Also, it just looks weird.

Then again, everyone doubted the Note - now it's a legitimate category and the Note series alone sold more than 40 million devices, so what do I know.

Hands-on with the surprisingly nice HP Chromebook 11

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-08 Google 24 Comments

Until now, Chromebook buyers have had to make a choice. You could get either a cheap laptop with cheap components or the premium-but-ridiculously-expensive Chromebook Pixel. When Google says that HP's new $279 Chromebook 11 is 'inspired' by the Pixel, it's not about components - the Chromebook 11 lacks the high-resolution touchscreen, the high-end Ivy Bridge CPU, and the solid aluminum construction - the Pixel's banner features. Rather, it's about making a laptop that makes enthusiasts happy without the Pixel's sticker shock.

The first non-Pixel Chromebook that actually looks decent and makes me want to buy it - except, what's with the crappy battery life? Only 6 hours on such a small ARM laptop?

Android is almost impenetrable to malware

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-08 Google 83 Comments

Until now, Google hasn't talked about malware on Android because it did not have the data or analytic platform to back its security claims. But that changed dramatically today when Google's Android Security chief Adrian Ludwig reported data showing that less than an estimated 0.001% of app installations on Android are able to evade the system's multi-layered defenses and cause harm to users. Android, built on an open innovation model, has quietly resisted the locked down, total control model spawned by decades of Windows malware. Ludwig spoke today at the Virus Bulletin conference in Berlin because he has the data to dispute the claims of pervasive Android malware threats.

This is exactly the kind of data we need, and Google has revealed it all. So, less than 0.001% of application installations on Android - and this specifically includes applications outside of Google Play! - are able to get through Android's multiple layers of security. In other words, saying Android is insecure is a lie.

Thanks to OSNews reader tkeith for pointing out this article.

Schmidt: Android more secure than iOS

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-08 Wireless 38 Comments

Gartner analyst David Willis, who is chief of research for mobility and communications and who runs Gartner's Senior Research Board, said to Schmidt: "If you polled many people in this audience they would say Google Android is not their principal platform When you say Android, people say, wait a minute, Android is not secure."

Schmidt didn't miss a beat, replying, "Not secure? It's more secure than the iPhone."

I don't know if it's more or less secure - all I do know is that there is no evidence pointing either way. People sometimes pretend that something is evidence, like reports that there are more malware variants targeting Android than there are variants targeting iOS - which has absolutely nothing to do with which of the platforms is more secure. For instance, we had a report from antivirus peddler F-Secure a few months ago, which stated that 79% of malware families targeted Android. Great. Too bad it didn't actually tell us anything about infection rate, the statistic which would actually tell us something.

Only 1% of malware families might be targeting platform Xyz, but if that 1% of malware managed to infect large numbers of devices, it's a far bigger deal than the 99% of malware families targeting platform Abc but only managing to infect a small number of devices. This simple fact seems - sadly unsurprisingly - lost on most bloggers and journalists.

So, lots of talk about how Android is supposedly insecure (almost always pointing to reports from... Antivirus companies), yet no proof that actually backs this statement up. Let me just repeat this common mantra: if you install antivirus on your smartphone, be it Android or iOS, you're wasting space and processor cycles on absolute total pointlessness.

Schmidt saying that Android is more secure than iOS is just as completely and utterly idiotic as saying the reverse. Both are just fine as they are. And in case you still haven't seen the memo, despite decades of evidence: antivirus companies are scum. Do not trust them. Ever.

Samsung Galaxy Gear ad copies original iPhone ad

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-07 Rumors 43 Comments

Samsung's Galaxy Gear television advertisement bears a resemblance to the original iPhone advertisement.

This made me smile, though:

There is just no shame - or original ideas - in this company at all.

Yeah! Except for display technology. Oh, and except for microprocessor design. And, of course, they are a driving force in memory chip design. Well, yeah, except for all those things from which virtually every computer product today benefits - Apple or otherwise - Samsung has absolutely no innovative ideas at all. What have the Romans done for us, indeed.

I don't care about Samsung any more than I care about other companies, but to shove the company's contributions to technology aside just because you lack the capacity to grasp the kind of more bare metal innovation they do just makes you look like an idiot.

Guest post by MOS6510 2013-10-06 Apple 52 Comments

This wasn't Grignon's typical route to work. He was a senior engineer at Apple in Cupertino, the town just west of Campbell. His morning drive typically covered seven miles and took exactly 15 minutes. But today was different. He was going to watch his boss, Steve Jobs, make history at the Macworld trade show in San Francisco. Apple fans had for years begged Jobs to put a cellphone inside their iPods so they could stop carrying two devices in their pockets. Jobs was about to fulfill that wish. Grignon and some colleagues would spend the night at a nearby hotel, and around 10 a.m. the following day they - along with the rest of the world - would watch Jobs unveil the first iPhone.

Microsoft said to ask HTC for Windows on Android phones

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-05 Windows 97 Comments

Microsoft is talking to HTC about adding its Windows operating system to HTC's Android-based smartphones at little or no cost, people with knowledge of the matter said, evidence of the software maker's struggle to gain ground in the mobile market.

Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft's operating systems unit, asked HTC last month to load Windows Phone as a second option on handsets with Google's rival software, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Myerson discussed cutting or eliminating the license fee to make the idea more attractive, the people said. The talks are preliminary and no decision has been made, two people said.

I hope HTC and every other Android OEM flips Microsoft the bird. The shoe's on the other foot now, Redmond.

ZTE Open: Firefox OS gets modest but promising start

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-03 Mozilla, Gecko 54 Comments

Whether or not the Open fits your needs, one thing is clear: Mozilla needs more capable hardware to demonstrate Firefox OS' potential. The Open is good for someone whose alternative would be a basic flip phone, but the camera quality, connectivity, display and performance don't do full justice to the software.

A promising start, but clearly better hardware is needed. I'm really hoping Firefox OS gets a fair shot.

The state of cheating in Android benchmarks

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-03 Benchmarks 42 Comments

With the exception of Apple and Motorola, literally every single OEM we've worked with ships (or has shipped) at least one device that runs this silly CPU optimization. It's possible that older Motorola devices might've done the same thing, but none of the newer devices we have on hand exhibited the behavior. It's a systemic problem that seems to have surfaced over the last two years, and one that extends far beyond Samsung.

Pathetic, but this has been going on in the wider industry for as long as I can remember - graphics chip makers come to mind, for instance. Still, this is clearly scumbag behaviour designed to mislead consumers.

On the other hand, if you buy a phone based on silly artificial benchmark scores, you deserve to be cheated.

Unofficial Windows 9 design concept

Thom Holwerda 2013-10-02 Windows 64 Comments

Manual window management is awful. Windows 8 ditched windows in favor of fullscreen apps. Traditional desktop window paradigms are powerful but obsolete.

Windows 9 unifies previous contrasting paradigms, taking design cues from all platforms and recent innovations.

Just an unofficial design concept, but damn, this is sexy. This is exactly what Windows needs - a combination of the old and new, leading to something seemingly far more usable than the monstrosity that is Metro in Windows 8.

Guest post by Jasyo 2013-10-01 KDE 12 Comments

According to a recent article on dot.kde.org, work is proceeding well on the modularization of KDElibs. Instead of being one large static library, KDElibs is being divided into a multi-tiered module system that consists of three framework categories.

These modules will be able to be used by any Qt application without the need to pull in unneeded code as was often the case with version 4 of KDElibs. This change from one large library to a set of smaller but interlinked modules has necessitated a name change from KDE Platform to KDE Frameworks for this aspect of the larger KDE Project.

From the article:

The Frameworks can be divided into three categories:

Functional elements have no runtime dependencies. For example, KArchive handles compression and decompression for many archive formats transparently and can be used as a drop-in library.

Integration designates code that requires runtime dependencies for integration depending on what the OS or platform offers. For example, Solid supplies information on available hardware features and may require runtime components to deliver some of the data on some platforms.

Solutions have mandatory runtime dependencies. For example, KIO (KDE Input/Output) offers a network-transparent virtual filesystem that lets users browse and edit files as if they were local, no matter where they are physically stored. And KIO requires kioslave daemons to function.

Modules may be written in such a way that they require only limited tiers of dependency chains. This should allow Qt application creators to use only the aspects of KDE that they find useful for their application. This modularization will allow for leaner, cleaner code and opens KDE technology to many more platforms than was previously practical; especially in the embedded and mobile markets.

If you would like to know more about the work on KDE Frameworks 5 the KDE.org article offers many useful links; including work with upstream, a roadmap, and current progress.

Submitted by JRepin 2013-10-01 Open Source 16 Comments

It is the GNU project's 30th birthday, and we are pleased to announce version 0.5 of the GNU Hurd.

The GNU Hurd is the GNU project's replacement for the Unix kernel. It is a collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel to implement file systems, network protocols, file access control, and other features that are implemented by the Unix kernel or similar kernels (such as Linux).

A bit late, but there you have it. Does anyone here actually use Hurd?

Haiku package management goes live

Submitted by Alan Searchwell 2013-10-01 Haiku 13 Comments

I'm proud to announce that, at last, the package management branch has been merged into the main development line, aka master branch. The builds and nightly images from hrev46113 on will include the new feature.

I only notice now that I should probably have given Matt a heads-up upfront, since due to the somewhat changed build process the build bot will need an update. So there might be a bit of a delay until the first Haiku PM nightly images will hit the website. Sorry for that.

Onwards to beta 1.

Submitted by Hiev 2013-10-01 Wireless 44 Comments

The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, for the three months to August 2013, shows Windows Phone has posted its highest ever sales share of 9.2% across the five major European markets* and is now within one percentage point of iOS in Germany. Android remains the top operating system across Europe with a 70.1% market share, but its dominant position is increasingly threatened as growth trails behind both Windows and iOS.

Good news for Microsoft - bad news for Apple. Of course, we'll have to see how the iPhone 5S and 5C affect these numbers.

Inside the Fall of Blackberry

jackson 2013-09-30 In the News 46 Comments

So how did Blackberry become a bit player in the smartphone market it invented? Canada's Globe and Mail offers an extensive look in their article Inside the Fall of Blackberry.

According to one insider quoted in the article, the problem wasn't that the staff stopped listening to customers. It was that they never listened to them. The company simply believed that they knew better what their customers needed.

Apple has wildly succeeded by being "out front" of expressed customer needs. But few tech companies hit paydirt when following this hubristic concept. Just look at the "innovative" user interfaces customers haven't asked for and have resisted over the past few years.

Ads are coming to Android’s Gmail application

Thom Holwerda 2013-09-28 Google 85 Comments

So there you have it - ads are very likely going to be part of Gmail soon. After all, it seems almost silly to not monetize a core app with an absolutely massive install base - between 500 million and a billion. I just hope these ads won't be overly intrusive, and from the looks of things, the Gmail team is approaching the situation with care.

Ads on my Android Gmail application? Seriously, Google?

Alternatives?

Steam controller

Thom Holwerda 2013-09-27 Games 75 Comments

We set out with a singular goal: bring the Steam experience, in its entirety, into the living-room. We knew how to build the user interface, we knew how to build a machine, and even an operating system. But that still left input - our biggest missing link. We realized early on that our goals required a new kind of input technology - one that could bridge the gap from the desk to the living room without compromises. So we spent a year experimenting with new approaches to input and we now believe we've arrived at something worth sharing and testing with you.

Where Microsoft and Sony show zero innovation with the Xbox One and the PS4, Valve is the one pushing limits. Their controller is quite, quite unique, and has a whole different approach than what we've seen before - instead of two inaccurate joysticks, it has two super-precise touchpads with advanced haptic feedback and the ability for both absolute and relative positioning. Go read the description - a summary won't do it justice. And, as always: hackable. Yes, even the controller is open and hackable. Wow.

They're on the right track here. If I were Microsoft or Sony, I'd start getting worried.

An homage to the Nokia N9, 2 years on

Thom Holwerda 2013-09-27 Wireless 18 Comments

Still, the Nokia N9 and its MeeGo Harmattan software platform remain unmatched in various aspects of user interface and user experience. Even though MeeGo Harmattan has essentially remained stagnant and frozen in time for 2 whole years, it still represents a benchmark in some ways for what a smartphone user interface should be.

Virtually every N9 owner I've ever talked to loves the N9 unconditionally. It could have been the Eve of Nokia's resurrection. Instead, it became the symbol of its demise.